Dear Sweet Justice
by Jaguarlioness
Summary: Before Death Note, before the Kira case, there was "The Riddler Case". Then there was a girl named Ami Fuyuko who balances her life with detective studies and her part time job at a bakery, but another problem comes along; His name was just "L". (L x OC)
1. Two Worlds Collide

**Thank you for choosing this story to read!**

Hopefully I can keep L's character intact, sorry if I don't.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note, but the plot and characters of this story I do.

* * *

Fall, 2003; He was turning 24 already.

The room was dark and the only light came from the computer screen. His empty eyes darted back and forth as he read the documents sent to him from the Japanese law enforcement. It was another criminal case from Japan and this one made his brain itch with amazement. A long slender finger poked the screen, pointing at images of papers with words cut out from magazines.

_What an old trick from the book. _

His thumb carefully rubbed against his upper lip as he only stared at the screen, his thoughts analyzing and processing the riddle before his eyes.

**We learn and learn but what happens when our brains stop and we drop?**

A corner was tainted with dry blood and he could assume that this person plans out his homicides, attacks his victims, and then leaves behind these paper clues next to the dead bodies. This killer was just playing a _game_ and he knows exactly why. The killer wanted to test to see if one of the best known detectives would play as well.

"Hmph, justice will prevail no matter what."

With his only sentence of the day, he turned to the bowl next to his computer and picked up a frosted strawberry with two fingers.

* * *

She watched the TV in the cafeteria while trying to drown out the background noise of students. Her thulian pink hair was swept away as she attempted to finish the rest of her food. The breaking news gave her shivers on the current murders in Kanto, Tokyo, just the place she lived in. Her university was apparently too occupied with other things to care though.

A hand smacked her back as a rather cheery friend of hers greeted her.

"Ami-chan! Let's go to karaoke tonight!"

Blue eyes glared at her friend as she almost choked on her food.

"Chizu, you know I have-"

"Aw, bleh, you're always working! What's so fun about pastries anyway? They just make you fat! I don't even understand how you can keep a body like that after working there for so long!" Chizu flung her blond hair behind her back as her brown eyes watched her blue eyed pink haired friend sigh.

"I've told you many times, the owner is getting old, she just needs help. Anyway, have you seen the news lately?" Ami attempted to change the subject as she wasn't comfortable on how her friend spoke ill of her workplace.

"Nah, I mean c'mon. Some guy calling himself the Riddler because he cuts and paste magazine words and makes gibberish, which is soooo old and lame, and a world known detective named L? Let the weirdos do their thing."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Yea yea yea, I know, you want to beat L in being a detective one day, ah hah, not happening. Nobody even knows who the fella is or what he looks like."

Ami frowned as her friend took a fry from her plate and chewed on it. The bell tower of their university chimed and she looked at her watch. She grabbed her law books and waved to her friend while rushing out the doors.

"Ami!"

"Sorry, not tonight after all!"

* * *

He had finally arrived to his hotel in Japan. It had been awhile since he set foot on this land since he had been residing in England for so long. He made sure he brushed up on his Japanese with his assistant before confirming he would work at the scene.

"Watari, I want to take a look around."

"Sir, our hotel room is number-"

"I don't mean that, I mean Japan."

His handler was a little surprised on what the young detective wanted to do. The man who casually dressed in white long sleeves and jeans rarely ever roamed outside of a room, but the city today? Sometimes the older man wondered why the messy haired and pale detective's behaviors are so strange. But then again, he was a rare genius found in the orphanage so nothing more to ask of.

"Don't mind me, just go set things up and confirm with the police that I will be transferring any information I find to them."

Watari nodded and went back to his building, a glance back to see the slouchy man putting on his shoes for once.

His shoes shuffled against the pavement as he passed by many faces on the streets. His hands shoved into his pockets as he just dragged himself to view the landscapes. Judging from some people's facial expressions, he could tell that they were uneasy on his posture as he walked pass by them. He didn't give a care at all of course as he just went on his way, his large dark eyes giving others the creeps. He then abruptly stopped and turned slowly to the window next to him. His face got closer and closer and his hands were placed on the glass.

It was a bakery shop.

He only stood there, his face almost squished against the window. Surprisingly, none of the workers noticed him as they were too busy carrying trays of pastries that also caught his eye. His index finger touched his lower lip as he began thinking again.

_Hm, I seemed to have left my wallet with Watari._

He realized this without even having to feel his pockets. He was a smart man after all. As he turned to continue his sightseeing, a person that was in a hurry, did not see him, and obviously crashed into him. Books flew everywhere and he and this person were on the ground.

"Oww, oohhh, ah!" She had thulian pink hair and her blue eyes widened to see him. But it wasn't because of his appearance, more rather, of the situation.

"I'm so sorry! Ahh, I wasn't watching where I was going!" She offered her hand since she had already stood up first. His long slender arm reached out to her and the touch of her soft skin sent a strange sensation through his nervous system.

"I'm so so so sorry! Stay here, please, let me make it up to you." She first quickly picked up her books and he noticed some of the titles read, _Justice: Law and Order._

"You are studying law?"

"Hm? Oh yes! I want to become a detective one day." A bright smile came with her reply and she once again reminded him to stay where he was. He slightly cocked his head to the side as he watched her run into the bakery. She ran to the back and came right out in an apron. He assumed that she was an employee there and she was also in college, studying to become what he already was. His finger once again rested on his lips to think about this encounter.

She came right back out carrying a small box that had light pink and white stripes. On top was see through plastic to give a view of a slice of strawberry frosted cake with chocolate chips.

"I'm sorry, I don't know if you even like sweets! But here is to compensate for bumping into you earlier. I know it's silly but I'll feel bad anyway." She gently placed the box on his flat opened hands and waved to him as she ran back inside.

He had caught a glimpse of her name tag.

**Ami Fuyuko.**

He looked down and his lips curved up as one of his fingers poked the plastic on top of the cake box.

_Hmm…she was pretty._

* * *

How did the first chapter turn out; any reviews? It's a bit cheesey on how they met but I couldn't think of a better way. I know not a of people like OCs but hopefully this story will come out to be successful.


	2. On Stranger Tides

**Thank you for choosing this story to read.**

**I have changed timeline to Fall 2003, so L is 24. One year before the Kira Case but after the L.A.B.B. case since L wouldn't have used the alias 'Ryuuzaki' if it wasn't for that case.  
**

**p.s. I like Pirates of the Caribbean very much. :)  
**

* * *

**We learn and learn but what happens when our brains stop and we drop?**

He tapped his fork against a plate as he scratched his head once again. If somebody other than Watari was in the room, they would have thought he had major problems. "_There is no way he is L!"_ people would probably say if they knew he was the real deal.

"Hum…we learn and learn…learn _what_?" He mumbled to himself as he clicked on the new documents sent in.

The latest victim was a professor who taught criminal justice at one of the top schools in Japan and was traveling to Kanto. Middle aged, no family, PhD. There were no other connections to lead to the next victim though.

_Could it be that this person just kills because he finds joy in it? Or…?_

He clicked opened a few more files and realized all past victims had relations to being in the law enforcement or were studying something related to that area. The murderer was attempting to narrow down the brightest groups of people and take them out in attempt to get closer to L himself.

_I have your plans figured out now…_

After another sip out of his super sweetened coffee, he thought about that girl who also wanted to be in this field. His lips curved up once again as a wild idea hit him.

Watari only caught a glimpse of messy ink-black hair leaving as he entered the hotel room again. He didn't even bother questioning since he knew the detective just has his odd ways of working.

* * *

Ami pretended to wipe her forehead as she finished putting in the tray of freshly baked goods into the pastry display. She was the only one with this hour shift so she was pretty much alone at that moment. She adjusted how each slice of decorated cake looked as she heard the door bell ring, indicating somebody had just entered.

"Welcome!" she said without looking up yet.

As she settled in the last of the slice of cake, her eyes met big round dilated pupils on the other side of the glass display. Her blue eyes widened as she recognized those eyes from somewhere. She stuck her head out from the display and looked over. It was the same guy from the other day. Perhaps he wasn't into sweets after all and he wanted something else?

"Hello! We meet again; you didn't like that cake after all did you?"

"Humm, I did actually." He hooked his finger on his lower lip.

"Really? Then is it okay to assume you came because you wanted another slice?"

He heard her giggle and he, for once, straightened his posture to meet her eye to eye. Well, she was a head shorter than him, that's for sure. Her thulian pink hair was tied up into a high pony tail today and her white apron covered what seemed to be a light blue dress, almost like Alice in Wonderland.

"I think I can be a regular here."

Her eyes brightened and she gave him a smile when she heard this. He was starting to like that smile. It was…enlightening. She came around the counter and grabbed his arm, surprising him.

"Well, if you are, I'll have a new friend then. Besides, I don't want my co-workers thinking you're another stalker if you come on different shift times."

_Another stalker?_

She was a weird girl indeed. Wanting to become friends with a stranger she bumped into the other day. But then again, he shouldn't be the one thinking this since he was already sitting crouched down on the chair with his two legs up. He only stared blankly at her with his hollow eyes as she plopped her head on her hands and stared back.

"My name is Ami Fuyuko, it's nice to meet you."

"Call me…Ryuuzaki."

She figured he wasn't so comfortable giving out a last name yet. He was a bit strange to her. He wore the same clothes from the day she first bumped into him and his skin was quite pale. Dark lines under his eyes gave indication that he was sleep deprived and his black messy hair gave him an edge. He was strange, _very strange_, but she found him interesting already.

"But really, why are you here again?"

"From what I remembered, you told me you wanted to become a detective." Not entirely answering the question.

"Oh yes! My father is a retired FBI agent and my mom is in the CIA. I know, it sounds cliché but it is what it is. I guess it got passed down to me." She shrugged while nervously twirling a lock of hair. He only continued to stare blankly at her, his hands on his raised knees.

"I just wanted somebody to talk to about the current news lately. It's not every day I find somebody with the same interest as me."

"You want to become a detective too?!" She was excited now. Maybe meeting this person wasn't such a coincidence after all. She can finally talk to somebody about things they would both understand rather than worrying about the latest college gossip.

"Hm, yeah. I'm also in college studying law." He felt guilt creeping up his chest as he lied to this "new friend" of his. She seemed very genuine on what her passion was but he was already on a far level than she was. So why did he come here again? To test her skills and knowledge? Probably. He couldn't admit on how egotistic he was sometimes.

Ryuuzaki couldn't help but to glance back at the pastry display. Ami noticed this and got up, went around the counter, and took out a chocolate flavored cake this time. She set it in front of him and handed him a fork.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Hm?"

"You will make me look like I'm freeloading."

"No worries, I bake most of these anyway."

He gave her a small smile and scooped a piece into his mouth.

_Hm, that was a cute smile._

This man in front of her was indeed **odd** looking, and sat **oddly**, and ate **oddly** with only holding his fork with his thumb and finger, but he was **oddly** _handsome_. Ami had to mentally slap herself at this thought. She barely met him!

"So, why do you sit like that, stranger?"

"I believe when I told you my name, we are no longer strangers, Ami. If I sit normally, my reasoning ability will drop forty percent. You should try it sometimes." He licked frosting off his fork as he proceeded to go back to mindless staring.

Her eyes narrowed but a smirk played her lips.

"I purposely called you a 'stranger' just now because it was a playful remark, an indication on how strange we've suddenly become quickly acquainted after a brief encounter. Now, why would you need reasoning abilities to have a casual conversation with me?"

_A very good come back_, he thought, _well, she wouldn't be studying law if she was an idiot._

"I want to know your thoughts on the current Riddler case."

"Are you testing me?"

"Why yes, I would like to test your deduction reasoning skills."

"I smell competition."

"Friendship involves competition after all." He raised his thumb to his mouth to bite on the finger nail. She didn't seem to mind all his inappropriate behaviors in her bakery; she was actually enjoying his company. Although, she did find the question of _why _he was like this creep into her mind.

"Alright, since you seem to know so much, give me the facts." She leaned back and crossed her arms, eyeing the man in front of her. He uttered a soft grunt while shifting his weight on his legs and tapped a slender finger on the polished table surface.

"A man calling himself 'The Riddler', you obviously know what he does already. Recent death was of Ichiba Souji. He was a professor for criminal justice and was traveling down here for certain businesses. I have found out that before him, past victims were also somewhat involved with law and order."

Her eyes narrowed at all the information he had given her. Was he really a student? Where exactly did he even get all this confidential information? Even the news reporters haven't gotten their hands on it! And even if he was a detective in disguise, why was he asking her of her thoughts on it? So many questions ran through her head and Ryuuzaki knew exactly what she was thinking about.

"I'm a graduate student interning under the police chief's investigation party. Don't worry too much about the permission I have to tell you these things. Now, you know what the latest riddle the killer has left behind, right?"

She was still slightly suspicious of him but pushed it to the back of her mind. Even though she wondered if the highly respected police chief even had internships, she reminded herself this was probably just a casual 'get-to-know-each-other's-intelligence' conversation. He was, after all, just wearing a plain shirt and jeans, nothing formal, and that gave away an impression that he wasn't _that _serious...or so she thought. She didn't even bother to ask why he took off his shoes; his explanation will probably just not make sense as the first one.

"'**We learn and learn but what happens when our brains stop and we drop?**'. First of all, I realized that the professor you mentioned, Ichiba Souji was a professor coming down to my school as a representative for the related majors, it's very sad really... ," a flash of sorrow crossed her face but she quickly disregarded it. "Now if I remember correctly, past victims were also related to the profession," she paused to analyze why the serial killer only aimed at these types of people. "I'm going to assume that he wants to take down any threat of stopping him, including those that have a high capability to figuring out what his next move is. It is also a way to draw out L, the famous detective who is now also on the case."

_Ryuuzaki_ managed to suppress his surprise on how quickly she was able to come to the same terms he was. Maybe he had underestimated her after all but he wanted to see if this girl can go far and beyond what they both have come to. He once again rubbed his thumb on his upper lip, his dark-rimmed eyes seemingly drilling into bright blue orbs.

"That is also what I have come down to. Indeed he is taking out potential threats but he has forgotten that L can't just be identified and discovered by taking down these people. I'm thinking he is attempting to see what actions L would take to stop him since sooner or later, L would be the only detective left bold enough to solve the case and catch him." It was rather weird for him when he says out loud his own name while talking about himself. He didn't even understand why he showed his face in public since he wasn't always the best at socializing (not to mention it was dangerous for him to do so). But he liked where this was going.

"That is true, but what if he also has a condition."

"Condition? Are you saying his has some type of disorder that makes him enjoy killing people?"

"That is exactly what I'm trying to say. In my psychology classes, I've learned that you can _create _a killer starting from when he is a child. The parent or guardian or anybody else can began by inducing the child into thinking that something like squashing bugs is okay, then the older the child becomes, killing small animals would be acceptable, then the person can put ideas into the child's head and make him think _people dying_, even if by murder, is alright because 'everybody dies eventually'. He would then grow up with no morals and so on."

"Although that could be the case, it's rather less than even a five percent chance that this could occur, thus, it's a far stretch."

"It rather is, but could be taken into account. What if he knows L isn't exactly the easiest to find? Why else would he commit these murderous acts?"

Ryuuzaki couldn't exactly reply to that but his eye lids lazily lowered. Ami leaned back forward and reached a hand out to the crouching figure. Instead of doing anything to him though, her index finger took a swipe off his unfinished frosted cake and she licked it, with a goofy smile. He only slightly raised his eyebrows as his hands reached the fork again while thinking she was a person that was way too easy to befriend. Oh well.

"Now, back to the case. Let's foreshadow what his next victim would be. In the riddle it said '**we learn and learn**' and the professor is a teacher who teaches. Who does he teach? Students who are _learning_. So I'm going to assume that '**our brains stop and we drop**' is his way of saying the next victim will be a student…or possibly more than one student since he used '**we**', a plural indicating a mass murder this time".

Ryuuzaki dropped his fork. His lips slightly parted as he watched the woman in front of him place her chin on her palm and look out the window after she finished her last sentence. She stood up as another visitor came in and greeted them with what the menu was for the day.

She actually went _far and beyond_ and came up with something he didn't expect. Her logic of what would the next event made total sense. It was easily laid out in front of him when she had given her ideas and he couldn't figure out why he hadn't thought up of it. He began to calculate in his head the percentage on how right she could be. And even so, what school would the attacker strike?

Then it hit him.

_I realized that the professor you mentioned, Ichiba Souji was a professor coming down to my school as a representative…_

He wanted to know more of what she could come up with after she was done tending the guest. But his cell phone rang in his pocket and he fished it out to raise it to his ear with his thumb and finger.

"We have confidential reports sent in. There seems to be an event of murders that recently occurred and haven't been released to the public."

"Watari, tell me the start then."

"It seems to me that these victims were students that were attacked while doing their everyday activity outside of school."

His sleep deprived eyes widened as he shut off his phone and quickly hopped off the chair to slip on his shoes, not bothering to tie the laces. He then walked pass the recent guest that came in and didn't bother to glance at him. Ryuuzaki was too occupied saying "see you later" to Ami as she thanked him for his company and he hurriedly left the bakery shop. Ami went around the back to take out the freshly done cakes and smiled at the thought of the messy haired sleepy face she had met.

In the corner, sat the recent visitor, wearing a trench coat that covered his lower half of his face while his hat covered his top; he quietly took off his gloves and sipped his coffee.

* * *

**A/N: **I found out it's easier to write a crime story than a romance story between L and OC. x_X Thus, this story will be a slow progress as I figure out how the relationship will develop between them (I want to plan it out carefully without upsetting readers). So hopefully each chapter will come with **_quality_** and hopefully quantity as well.

**One last note:** That psychological statement Ami made is possible. I study psychology in university.

Thanks for reading!

Any comments? Feedback?


	3. Definition of Freaks

"Watari, give me the names of the students that were killed and their background information."

L was facing the window, staring into the vast city lights with his hands shoved into his pockets, his back almost straight this time. He was glad Watari didn't question where he was but that wasn't of importance at the moment. Watari listed all their names and where they came from and what school they were attending. L realized something they all had in common; they all had attended the same college.

_Touou University…_

"What university was it that Professor Souji was going to?"

"Touou University."

_I realized that the professor you mentioned, Ichiba Souji was a professor coming down to my school as a representative…_

_…a professor coming down to my school as a representative…_

_…my school…_

L whipped around and with three long strides, he was in front of his computer again. He began looking up records that only he and the police could access. He typed a name and out popped up her picture. Her thulian pink hair cascaded down her shoulders, her sharp blue eyes looking stern at whoever took the picture, and her smile stared right back at him.

"Watari, how many students of law are remaining?"

"Why, the killer couldn't possibly murder the hundreds of students. But I would also like to add in that these students were Professor Souji's top picks on taking under his wing. Only about three of those students remain fortunately."

_So he killed off the teacher __**and **__his students…_

L scrolled down on her information and confirmed that she too, was a Touou university student. It also stated that she was one of the top law students and was one of the few the professor was eager to meet; too bad for him.

He slammed his laptop shut and jumped over a couch to sit in his strange position again. He bit his thumb nail as thoughts ran wild in his head. Watari was obviously confused by his actions and took a step near the detective. The silence from Watari was actually asking L for answers.

_If only three of those students remain, what are the chances that the killer will come back for them?_

"Watari, I believe I will need to visit college again."

* * *

Ami was seriously depressed over what happened to Ichiba Souji. She was actually excited to meet him but now that he's dead, she seriously couldn't figure what to do at this time of hour that she was supposed to meet him. Word of his death was hushed and was only kept within the department of law at Touou University.

"Ami-chan." A voice called to her and she looked up. It was Chizu again and today her blond friend calmly sat down next to her at the bench. Her cheery friend was unusually quiet today.

"We are the only survivors."

"Huh?"

"…The other students; the ones that were also supposed to go to the meeting today with us. They were killed."

Chizu was also within the same department as Ami and she too was saddened over the news, but when she started talking about the other students that they never actually met, her eyes widened.

_Murdered?_

"Wait…what do you mean?"

"They were killed, Ami! That Riddler freak, he killed the professor and he was out to get us. He killed the rest of the students that were going for apprenticeship but now…now only three of us remain, including me and you, Ami."

"That's…"

Ami lost her choice of words as her hands shakily held her head. A flashback of her talking to Ryuuzaki crossed her mind as she remembered talking about _a mass murder of students_ after the professor. She was right after all. This time, there was a connection between the victims.

_I can't believe I was able to figure it out…if only I thought of this sooner!_

Chizu started tearing up next to her and Ami put an arm around her.

"W-we are lucky to be alive! That could've been us too, who knows, maybe the killer knows he missed a few people and is tracking us down!"

"Calm down Chizu, justice is on our side remember?" Ami attempted to give a weak smile, "Hey, let's try to put our minds together and think about this. What would he do next?"

There was one major difference between Chizu and Ami, and that was keeping it all together. In other words, Chizu was always more emotional while Ami was more rational. But Ami liked that part of Chizu; her friend showed something she couldn't.

"I need to think."

"That's what we should be doing."

Chizu turned to her friend and wiped away her tears as Ami smiled brightly this time.

"I don't understand how you can be so collected after this. We could be dead anytime soon."

"Not if we outsmart that person. The killer attacked these students while they were oblivious to their surroundings. Now that we know that, we can be more alert."

"Yeah…I guess you're right."

"Hey, I got an idea. We should go find who the third survivor is. Maybe we can discuss this subject with him or her and _maybe_ solve this together."

"Don't be stupid, Ami. We all know L is already on the case, we just need to keep safe. We can't possibly have the genius mind this unknown detective does," she sighed and leaned back, finally relaxed. "Man, I need to go to a bar and pick up some guys or something; everything is just so insane at the moment."

Ami laughed. She knew, no matter what the situation, Chizu was always boy crazy; sometimes crazy enough to meddle into Ami's personal love life.

Thing was, she had none whatsoever.

As Chizu was getting herself cleaned up, Ami caught a shadow from the corner of her eye behind a tree. She slowly got up and faced it, her whole body trembling. It was broad daylight, yet her mind still thought about how murders can take place anytime and anyplace throughout the day.

"Who's there?!"

"Ami?" Chizu got up and turned to the direction her friend was facing too, "What's wrong?"

"There is somebody behind that tree."

There was a second of silence until the figure finally stepped out from behind the tree. Ami's eyes widened as he took his last step out from the shade.

"Ryuuzaki?"

He was wearing his usual outfit again. His posture slouchy and his eyes lazily scanned the scenario in front of him. Ami's eyes followed him as he coolly took a step to the bench in front of her and took off his shoes to sit like a watching bird.

"Are you stalking me?"

"I attend here." His pinky was stuck inside his ear to twist…

"What?! Since when?"

"Since after I graduated…high school?" His face gave away no expression as he replied in a questioning tone in his answer, implying her question was rather stupid.

"That's odd, how come I never see you around…"

"Does it look like I go out much?"

He did make a good point. She even noticed how he looked **exactly the same** the day she met him. Does he have multiple same outfits for everyday of the week or was he just financially unstable? She would never know since she would find it rude to ask. But the lines under his eyes made her wonder on how much sleep he was getting.

"So…what brings you here?"

"I remembered what you said about how the dead professor was supposed to come here and I realized we went to the same university."

She flinched a little on how he casually said "dead professor" with no remorse. Chizu, who was ignored for a moment, glanced back at forth at the two and L noticed. He only slightly turned his head at her and his owl eyes sent her shivers. She was definitely not getting the best vibe from him so she pulled her friend to the side.

"So like…you know this guy?"

"Obviously."

"Ami, I know you're one of the weirdest girls out there, but your looks can obviously attract a lot of guys. Do you and this freaky guy have something going on...?"

Ami felt warmth creep up her cheeks as she frantically began waving her hands around, "N-n-no! We're just friends!"

"Ohhh?" Chizu's eyebrow made an arch.

From the back, L watched the two girls whisper to each other and he noticed how Ami was nervously saying something back to her blond friend. A glimpse of her face could tell him she was embarrassed over something Chizu had said. He sighed and got up to get closer to the two.

"Excuse me."

"Ah!" Both girls yelped as he was right behind him. His dark eyes not amused.

"I would like to do something." He simply stated.

"Well…we were actually going to find this other person that is also a top scholar. We wanted to see if he has any clue about the recent murders. Did you hear Ryuuzaki? Students in the same group Chizu and I was in were killed…"

L knew that if he told her he did know, he would seem like he knew everything, which he did. He didn't want her to think that he actually was a _stalker_ or anything like that. But then again, he did tell her he was studying the same as she was. His second guessing inside his mind only caused a silence between the three.

"Hello? Ryuuzaki?"

"That person, do you know who he is?" He attempted to avoid the question of whether he knew about the murders or not. In the end, he decided that saying too much would leak too much information about his extensive knowledge a college student shouldn't have. He just had to pretend to be oblivious for the sake of his career.

"I do! I just passed by him at the school café in fact. His name is Jiro Hideki. He was rather…"

Before Chizu could finish her sentence, Ami grabbed both of their arms and led them to the café, not wanting to hear about how dreamy, cool, hot, or whatever Chizu was about to say.

And somehow, that name sounded familiar to her.

* * *

L followed behind the two college girls while they chatted away about whatever subject he wasn't interested in. Chizu glanced back at him to examine what kind of guy Ami had managed to "catch". He walked with a hunched back, as if he was already an old man in need of a cane. His hands always stuck in his faded jean pockets and his shirt was just plain white boring. In addition to that, the pale skin, dark-rimmed eyes, with an inky black mop on his head didn't exactly scream 'date worthy' to Chizu. As if sensing she was taking glances at him, he raised his head and his giant round eyes stared right through her soul.

She shuddered.

Ami defiantly met a freak this time.

Not only that, they were on their way to meet another of his kind. Yes, she wasn't about to say "dreamy, cool, or hot" for the guy they were going to meet. It was just the opposite.

"Hey Ami?" Chizu whispered to her friend.

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't it look like Ryuuzaki is a creeper by following behind us like this?"

"Hmm…I think he's just shy."

Chizu didn't respond as she thought about how she was always right about Ami's weird 'taste in guys'. Ami was too naïve. In the past, Ami always liked the guys that Chizu thought wasn't fit. But Ami always said they were "unique" and Chizu should never judge on appearance. Yeah right, who doesn't do that?

They finally arrived to the café and when they entered, Chizu first spotted the man in the corner, typing rather frantically on his laptop. She nodded her head his direction and the three of them preceded their way to him.

As they came near him, Ami realized she knew this guy. His hair covered his eyes, giving him a shady look. Slanted dark eyes hid behind black rimmed glasses and this man gave off a rather…creepy aura. If Chizu thought Ryuuzaki was freaky, _this _man was on a whole different level. Why? Because a few years back, he had confessed to her but after turning him down, she had found herself "bumping" into him frequently. But after studies became series, it stopped.

"A-Ami-chan…" He glanced up from his laptop and a crooked smile plastered his face.

L was in the background, in fact, he had seated himself in a separate table near where the three were. He even ordered himself a sundae before getting comfortable on listening to the starting conversation. He examined this boy named Jiro Hideki. Nothing out of ordinary yet; no social skills (like himself) and probably hid porn under his mattress to make up for the lack of interaction with girls…not that L did that himself.

"Uhm…hi,Jiro." Ami nervously waved to him.

"You two know each other?" Chizu piped up.

"Yeah…"

_Gosh, you really are a freak magnet, Ami._

Chizu sat down in front of Jiro and he gulped. He never had a girl this close before.

"Jiro, have you heard what happened to the other scholars? We are the only ones that were spared from death. I was wondering if you were willing to investigate on this Riddler."

For some reason, it seemed like Jiro's eyes darkened even more than it already was. From the short distance, L swore he saw a small grin restrained from forming on the guy. He only continued to scoop ice cream into his mouth.

"Heh, I don't really care. Isn't it for the better?"

"Hah?" Ami and Chizu were equally confused.

"I mean, our competitions were killed off! We don't need to worry about an abundance of other top law students now. Our rate of getting difficult internships in this school just went up now that they are out of the picture."

Ami's eye twitched.

_This guy wants to become a lawyer?! For who? Criminals?!_

She slammed her hands on his table, making everyone, including L, jump in surprise.

"Are you fucking with us? Where is your sense of justice? You're **_glad _**that they were killed? You shouldn't even be at this school you sicko!"

Jiro only pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as a small smirk played his lips.

"Oh Ami-chan, I've always liked how aggressive you can get sometimes." He calmly got up and shut off his laptop, putting it into the case. Ami's hands were balled into fists as he indicated he was leaving.

"What is up with you?"

"Let's just say, I care more for my own needs. We'll meet again Ami-chan." He walked off; his dark aura trailing behind him.

Chizu finished glaring at his back and turned back to Ami, who was gritting her teeth.

_What is up with him? Why is he so happy that the other students were killed?_

"Well…that was intense. I don't like him at all, it's like he supports the Riddler."

Ami let out a sigh and realized somebody was kept quiet the whole time.

"Ryuuzaki?"

The table only had an empty sundae bowl.

* * *

"I apologize about leaving without telling you the other day." L didn't exactly look sorry when he was scratching the back of a leg with the opposite foot he easily slipped the shoe off from. He couldn't tell her that he had other important business to attend to when Watari called him up. Being a world known detective meant he had to solve cases…all over the world and not just one. But there was one thing that he got to do back at the hotel, he had searched up Jiro Hideki's information.

That boy was filthy rich; rich enough to possibly…hire _assistants_ into making his future career…**successful.**

But that possible chance was rather low and now, L found himself back at Ami's bakery the next day, apologizing for bailing on her. Something he thought he would never do actually.

She had her arms crossed; her foot could be heard tapping the marble floor as she gave him an irritable look. She even remained behind the counter rather than running around to greet him.

"First you show up into my life, and then decide to stay, then now you're popping up everywhere but leaving mysteriously as well. Are you _sure _you're not a stalker?"

His eyes became uneven as his brows arched a little. She mentioned the word "stalker" before but he didn't think she was so serious about it. His finger slowly made its way to his lips once again.

"Do you get that a lot?"

"A lot what?"

"Stalkers."

She sighed and finally went around the corner, grabbing his arm to lead to their now established spot.

"Maybe Chizu is right; a lot of freaky guys tend to notice me."

"Oh? I guess I'm a freak then." He replied flatly. He finished raising his last leg to his crouching position in his seat.

"Well…I didn't mean it that way about you. I think you're nice…just a bit whacky."

"I will take that as a better compliment than being labeled a 'freak' then." His tone almost sounded sarcastic, but Ami wasn't so sure.

Now onto the Riddler case. L wanted to discreetly let the subject slide in without causing Ami to become suspicious as to why he was so eager to talk about it. He knew just the topic to start off with.

"So, Jiro eh?" He pushed his lower lip to a side with a thumb.

"Ah…him. I honestly think he's insane."

"Hmmm? Tell me, what happened between you and him?"

She flushed and looked away. Her lips formed a pout and L couldn't help but think how the girl in front of him was…cute. He would never let anybody know of that of course. In the back of his mind, he was wishing that thought never existed. Nothing but solving cases should be on his mind so he can't afford having other _irritable _things floating around in his noggin.

"He was infatuated with me and soon after, I saw him around a lot. I guess I decided to be nice and converse with him from time to time. Then one day he just confessed, saying he'd do anything for me, saying he loved me. It was obviously a bit scary so he was rejected. He didn't take no for an answer and I found myself bumping into him more than usual and I was starting to think he was stalking me. But finally, school called for some serious studying and I didn't see him until now."

For some reason, a phrase caught onto L. He found himself asking something that was totally different from what his mind wanted him to ask.

"Is love scary to you?"

"Love isn't scary. But it's only acceptable if the person understand it themselves. Jiro obviously didn't know what it was and thought what he saw in me was it."

"Do you understand it then?"

"Sometimes I tell myself I do, but in actuality, I'm still solving that case," she chuckled a bit on her own lame joke. "But I think I'll understand it when I feel it one day."

_When I feel it one day._

What does that even mean? L didn't want to pursue this topic anymore.

"Do you know anything about him?"

"Huh?"

"His background."

"I know he comes from a rich family. He parents paid the school a large amount for him to be accepted even though his grades weren't exactly top notch. Now I'm assuming he has some expensive tutors for him to be considered a scholar or money bought him there again."

"Ami, don't you think it's possible that he could be related to the case?"

Ami sat back in her chair and just stared at the sluggish man in front of her. She began thinking about the possibilities now that he mentioned it.

Jiro was indeed suspiciously cheery over the deaths of the other students, no remorse at all. She knew he was rich so he had power to buy authority.

"It's possible that he could somehow be connected, but there is not enough evidence to point to him. He is indeed rich but we can't just say 'oh he hired an assassin' or something similar to that sort. That's like saying other rich families are as guilty. Besides, I think it'd be too obvious if it was him. This case has been going on for almost more than a month; he'd be caught by now since he still shows his face around school."

"Yes, but he is the only person who has portrayed positive thoughts on the recent murders."

"What are the chances?"

"About… less than five percent."

"Well, even if he was somewhat connected to the case, what can we do? We're just students…it's funny, I feel like we're our own detectives for this case after all this talk too."

L let his eye lids close half way as he didn't respond. She raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to do something. He only lowered his gaze as it seemed like he was more concentrated on moving his thumb around his lips.

"Ami…have I ever told you that you're pretty?"

"Ehhhh?"

_He's joking right?_

L sighed and put on his shoes as he got ready to take off. He felt the phone in his pocket vibrate; indicating Watari was alerting him to get back as soon as possible. After all, many other cases weren't going to be solved by themselves. He wanted to solve this one as quickly as possible but it wasn't as easy as he thought it was. He glanced up at Ami. She was a key to helping him solve this.

"Going already?"

"Yeah, I have other businesses to take care of."

"Well…see you tomorrow?"

"I did say I'm going to be a regular here." He got the satisfaction of seeing her smile again as he left the door. He somewhat felt…lighter.

He didn't notice the man he passed by who had entered the bakery. L just carried his way back to his destination.

Ami greeted the man but was also occupied with taking out empty trays from the pastry display.

"There are no more lemon pound cakes?"

"Oh, they should be done by now!" She hurriedly ran to the back to check up on them. As she came back out, the visitor wasn't there anymore. She didn't even get to see what he looked like! Maybe he was too impatient to wait for her?

As she began cleaning up, something stood out from the corner of her eye. There was a piece of paper stuck under the container of bakery business cards. She carefully slipped it out and unfolded it. A noise escaped her lips as her eyes briefly met with colorful magazine cutouts.

**I've got your start of 'p' and ends with 's'. Guess who has eyes everywhere?**

* * *

Much appreciation if there are reviews for a writer's hard work.


	4. Solving the Meaning

_**Thank you for choosing this story to read.**_

* * *

Bending forward his laptop, his round eyes scanned the screen as three profiles were opened up.

**Jiro Hideki.**

**Chizu Takeshi.**

**Ami Fuyuko.**

He let a finger tap to zoom in the prime suspect of the case. Discarding the shady appearance, he had what it takes to carefully carry out a mass murder within Kanto region. The observation L made on him the other day was just enough for him to suspect Jiro Hideki.

_It could be that he has many hired assassins under his authority to carry out these murders. After all, he can't travel to so many places in a short amount of time. Law enforcers are killed off to prevent too much investigation. Students, even if they weren't from Touou, were also killed off for him to easily grab the title of "Top Law Student of Japan". But…what if he is just a supporter of the Riddler? All of this "what ifs" barely have any evidence to prove my case._

He then clicked the next profile.

_Chizu Takeshi. Second place on the list and is also placed in a fairly wealth family. What are her chances of being involved in this case?_

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her picture. Her blond hair tied into a bun and there was no smile. Professional. Nothing out of the ordinary.

_None. There shouldn't be a chance since she was mourning over the Professor's death. She is quite close to Ami as well so if she was to be anywhere near being involved with the murders, she would have easily killed Ami without being suspected due to their friendship._

He then finally clicked to the last profile. He felt something uneasy stir inside of him when he saw her picture again. Perhaps it was that skewer of marshmallows he had dipped into molasses? Absolutely not. It must be something else.

He had already known she was cleared. Especially when he had known her for about…almost more than a week now after coming to her bakery shop on a daily basis. It seemed a bit biased, but it was only the truth.

"Watari?"

The elderly man looked up from his own research. He always had thoughts in the back of his mind as to why L was _venturing_ out so much now. The orphan he cared for was always an oddball but Watari still knew him best. Going outside of his norms and venturing in the outside world was ironically strange for this strange man to do.

"Yes?"

"Tell me…was there ever a case in asking what is love?"

Watari pushed his glasses up while he was in a complete confusion. Never would he have thought the world 'love' would ever leave L's mouth, not including the years in tennis.

"I'm not sure L, why do you ask?"

"Hmm…"

Watari restrained a sigh as he would never know where the young detective was heading out to again.

* * *

Ami was gripping onto the note with colorful magazine words pasted on it. The letters only seemed to dance before her eyes as she attempted to decipher the riddle. It has been a day since she received it and no sign of that man coming back. Or maybe, he did come back but his appearance changed…she wouldn't know since she was safe for now. She had been holding onto the note without letting it go ever since and the dangerous thoughts were clouding her mind, making her forget to be alert.

**I've got your start of 'p' and ends with 's'. Guess who has eyes everywhere?**

She bit her lower lip in a restraint to just crumbling up the note and throwing it away. She hoped it was just a sick joke but she heard anybody who attempted to copy the Riddler would meet a very cruel fate. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe calmly as a hand ran through her hair.

The door bell rang to the bakery shop but she didn't even bother to look up. It was that time of day again. She heard slight scratching noises as the presence came closer.

"Ami?"

She finally glanced up from the note to meet the insomniac man. He was scratching a side of his thigh as his lazy eyes greeted her.

"Good afternoon…"

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" He expected a more upbeat version of her. That was something he looked forward to everyday now. He didn't even realize that himself.

"Why do you ask that?"

He only responded with a forefinger resting on his upper lip as he got a bit closer, not sitting down on his usual seat yet. His head turned to an angle as if he was trying to examine her on a different perspective.

"You seem off."

"That's funny to say coming from a guy that has everything off about him."

There was a slight chuckle before he said, "I guess you can say that. But really, you don't seem too well."

He was right. Maybe after another few nights of restless sleep (if she even gets a few more nights), she'll probably sport her own pair of dark bags under her eyes. The thoughts of dying were swimming in her head and the stress was practically digging her own grave.

"I-I…Ryuuzaki…"

His eyes bulged after he watched her get up from her seat, with two strides, and her arms wrapped around him. Her body trembled against him and he glanced down, then up to think if this was really happening, then back down at her. What should he do? He decided to hesitantly put an arm around her.

_How awkward it is to be in this situation…perhaps I should've came at a different time._

"Umm…erm…Ami? Tell me, what's wrong?"

He heard the crinkling of paper as he felt her arm tighten around him, the other moving down to her side. He scratched his head as he was in the utmost confusion. He did however, want to comfort her, but decided that wouldn't be acceptable in his book of behaviors. He glanced down at the direction of where the crinkling of paper came from to distract himself of thoughts he never thought of before. He noticed the paper being scrunched up in her fist and saw a few colored squares on the edges.

"Ami…is that?"

She looked up at him, making him wish he didn't have such dark lines under his eyes. For the first time ever, he thought about how he wasn't worthy to look into such beautiful blue eyes.

They were red-rimmed and teary.

But the close-up proved they were still beautiful.

* * *

"Ryuuzaki?"

L was inspecting the note in front of him, picked up with only his index fingers and thumbs. He stared intensely at it and didn't move from his crouching position in the past five minutes.

Perhaps he wanted to avoid making eye contact with her after that…interaction.

"Ryuuzaki…I'm sorry for hugging you earlier. I should've thought about not all people are comfortable with body contact." She nervously fidgeted with her fingers under the table. L lowered the note to meet her gaze; an unreadable expression was pasted on his face.

"Don't worry about it Ami. I'm glad to be of help in any way." He simply stated and proceeded to take another look at the riddle.

"Oh,erm...thanks then."

She raised her gaze to him while his eyes were busy darting back and forth at the riddle. For just a student, he was way too serious about solving this case. But then again, maybe it was because their friendship was going to end when she was about to be murdered and he just wanted to help her in some way; a future detective's job after all.

Ami thought about how she rushed into his arms earlier. Obviously he felt awkward about it but he still attempted to hug her back. His body was stiff at first but he relaxed when he had put an arm around her. His body was rather slender but she felt strength in his lean muscles. For a pale person that seemed like he gives off a cold aura, he was surprisingly very warm. Ami quickly disregarded thoughts of their body contact when she felt warmth tint her cheeks.

_What the hell am I thinking about?_

She glanced up at him and was surprised he was staring at her. If their brief bodily contact had affected him in some way, he sure was good at hiding a sense of discomfort. Although, she thought about how it was rather stupid to think of it anything different than just a simple hug.

"Is something still wrong Ami? Do you…need another hug?" He seemed almost uneasy asking the last question.

"Oh no, ahaha…" What a nervous laugh she had given off.

He smoothed out the note she had crumpled on the table and pointed a finger at it.

"Ami, when did you receive this? Did you see who gave it to you?"

"Yesterday when you had left, a man walked in but I was too occupied on my work that I didn't see his face. I went to the back and came back out and he was gone, in his place was this note."

"Hmm…" He turned his head back to check the ceilings of the store. Perfect, there were cameras.

"Would it be okay with your manager if I took a look at the camera records?"

"Yea, no problem." She still didn't understand why he was going through such lengths. At this point, she was going to just give up. All the years of studying to become a detective was going to go down the drain if she was probably going to die anytime soon.

"Ami, I know you're distressed over this, but don't give up hope. You wanted to become a detective remember? So now is the time you use the knowledge you have to save yourself."

She sighed as knowing what he said was a shot of realization at her. She had to shake it off. She can't back down now. This was what her life was prepared for! Risking everything was what she was set to do.

"You're right. Alright, let's try to solve this then. I won't die without a fight."

He looked up to her with a wiry smile before placing his hands on his knees. He then pointed back down at the note.

"You won't be dying anytime soon though."

"…?!"

"Haven't you noticed? Notes of the Riddler were only placed **_after _**the victim was killed. But this time, it was just handed to you, as if indicating that you are supposed to solve it. The question is, why? You were obviously alone at this same time of the day yesterday but he didn't take advantage of that. It could be possible that he knows something about you and killing you off will put him in a disadvantage."

"Does that mean this person…is close to me?"

"Not necessarily. He can probably search up records of you."

"Then…" She looked back down at the note.

**Guess who has eyes everywhere?**

"Ryuuzaki, it's possible that he's been watching me this whole time in addition to knowing my background."

"Hmmm…."

"Look, it says '**Guess who has eyes everywhere?**' Isn't that obvious, HE does. He's been watching me this whole time. Tons of people come into this bakery everyday and he could've been sitting here right under my nose!"

L bit his thumb nail and made suction noises as he let the information sink into his head. She really did have great deduction or was it that…

"He purposely made this riddle easy for you."

"What?"

Two fingers were spread out, one pointing to the "p" and the other to the "s" in the **I've got your start of 'p' and ends with 's' **part of the riddle.

"Ami, he is after your _parents_."

Her hands griped the edge of the table. She remembered her parents leaving a note saying they were on a trip yesterday when she got home. It was rather strange since her mother was still working in the CIA and her father retired so they couldn't do much together. But she didn't really look into it since she thought her parents just needed a break.

She shot up from her seat and took out her cell phone.

Her mom wasn't picking up and so was her dad.

She quickly dialed a co-worker's number and asked them to take over her shift. This whole time, L was just watching her. She looked back at him with the most frightened look.

"I'm going Ryuuzaki. There's a high chance I might not be here tomorrow."

"Ami, wait!"

She had already left the shop.


	5. World's Greatest Detective

**_Thank You for choosing this story to read!_**

_**Thanks to all those who are following!**_

& last thanks to **NayGoesMoo** who gave this story a community. :')

* * *

Ami hugged her knees as she huddled up in the corner. The curtains were shut and the outside could be heard with light conversations and shuffling. She buried her face into her folded arms that rested on her knees as she felt the tears blurring her eyes.

Flash backs of crimson walls only rushed to her.

A slight knock sounded.

"Ami?" His voice was just _always _monotonous; the man turned out to be true stranger after all. There was no hint of worry behind his voice.

She heard the door open and close.

"Hmm, you'll end up like me if you keep this up. I thought you wanted to surpass me one day, not become me."

That line wasn't exactly lightening the mood as she scowled within her arms.

"Go away."

"Ami, look at me."

She slowly lifted her blue orbs to meet a pair of endless dark eyes. His face held no expression but maybe; just maybe, this was his only way of showing he cares about another being.

"I need your help on this case. We can work together to find justice for your parent's death."

"How can I trust you after finding out who you _really are_?"

He sighed, "You should already know why I couldn't just give out my identity in public."

That's true, thinking logically, it was way too dangerous for him to even roam around the city in the first place. She wondered why he did though. But if he hadn't met her, she would probably be committing suicide right this moment. He had saved her from the terrors of seeing something she never thought would have happened in her life. He had taken such measures to even lead her here, to let her know who he was, well, at least reveal himself as the man behind the single letter at least.

Recalling back the events that led up to now, if Ami had a weaker mentality, she wouldn't be able to handle the whole situation.

From her dead parents to meeting…the world's greatest detective.

* * *

_"I'm going Ryuuzaki. There's a high chance I might not be here tomorrow."_

_"Ami, wait!"_

_She had already left the shop._

_Ami had the most uncomfortable feeling as her house came closer to view. It was as though a dark aura surrounded the place as she finally reached the front. It seemed too eerily quiet and the lights were out as Ami scanned the place. But her parents weren't home since yesterday due to their "vacation trip" so this was normal, wasn't it?_

_She quickly fished her keys out and unlocked the door. Her eyes caught the sight of the pairs of shoes that were missing yesterday._

_Her parents were home._

_"Mom? Dad? Are you here?"_

_There was no response and the girl shivered to how the house was becoming darker by the minute as the sun sunk in the far horizon. She switched on all the lights and slowly made her way up the stairs._

_"Hello?"_

_Still no response._

_They had to be home! But her logic ran as she thought about how if they did take a vacation, why would it end so short? She looked down the hallway to their room. She noticed faint light emitting from under the door crack and could hear slight noises from the TV they had in their room._

_"They must be tired and fell asleep after watching some TV" she thought, "Mom probably had to probably cut the trip short since work calls in too much."_

_She took a breath of relief and walked to her room. Ami proceeded to change clothes and as she finished, she noticed her laptop light blinking._

_Odd, did she accidently close it without shutting it down last night causing it to go into hibernation mode instead?_

_She grabbed it and took it to her bed. Opening it, she was met with a blank screen._

_"Huh? What's going on here?"_

_The screen flickered for a second and a cloister black font of the letter L popped up._

_"Oh...my...goodness...this can't be happening." She whispered to herself._

_A synthetic voice began to speak. THE world's greatest detective L, had somehow hacked into her computer to contact her…but why?_

_"Good evening Miss Fuyuko, you obviously should know who is talking to you at this moment."_

_"How do I know you're not an imposter?" Ami was glad her laptop had built in microphones, or else she'd feel like an idiot._

_"That is a very good start off question coming from a student studying to become a detective like myself."_

_"…" There was a sense of arrogance as he said that sentence. Not everybody was born a genius, sheesh._

_"It's all in the matter of trust, I suppose. I don't believe there is any way else in proving myself through this. But I assure you, by the end of the day you will see for your own eyes."_

_What exactly does he mean?_

_"On a different note, I have tracked down the case of the Riddler. It seems that it traced back to your parents."_

_"So that is why you're contacting me?"_

_"Correct. Now, I have done my research. Your mother is in the CIA and your father a retired FBI. I have checked in on it and it turns out your mother have been missing since yesterday, is it perhaps your father is missing as well?"_

_"Well they left a note saying they went on a trip yesterday."_

_"I see…"_

_"Why do you think my parents are part of this?"_

_"Do you have any reasons they aren't then? I have my information and you probably do too. Ami Fuyuko, you are a bright student after all, with proof of solving minor cases on your own, so would you like to defend yourself on this?"_

_"…"_

_"Well? Is there anything you'd like to say?"_

_"I received a note from the Riddler a few days ago. Perhaps it was a coincidence that my parents have gone on a trip the day I got that note. But, they are fine now; in fact they are in their room. I heard their TV on."_

_"Did you perhaps check on them?"_

_"They are probably sleeping, what's the big deal anyway?"_

_"The first rule of being a detective is to never be too careful."_

_She sat there and contemplated on it. With the greatest detective practically staring right at her, she knew he was right. Besides, it doesn't hurt to take a look on her parents, right? She chuckled a bit._

_"You're right; I can't beat you in being the best case solver if I don't even do this simple task."_

_The screen was silent for a bit until the robotic voice finally responded._

_"If anything happens, hold yourself together and call the police right away, Miss Fuyuko. Your whole computer's data and programs will be erased now."_

_"Wait!"_

_The screen turned black and her eyes met white coding scrolling down the screen. She groaned as she shoved the laptop off her lap. L sure did have his ways of keeping one hundred percent hidden. And call the police right away? For what? Her parents not turning off their TV after falling asleep to it? Hah. Ami slightly shook her head to the ridiculous idea as she headed her way to her parent's room. Her fingers curled in to knock on their door._

_"Mom, Dad, you two awake?"_

_The only response she received was the TV blaring from inside. They weren't THAT much of heavy sleepers were they? Well, she will just take a peek for a second then. She slowly grabbed the knob to turn and the door easily opened._

_Indeed the only light emitted was from the TV. Ami's eyes glanced over to see two bundles on the bed. There was something else __**off**__ about the room as well._

_Her hands shakily switched on the lights and a gasp came along with her blue eyes widening._

_Dark red dripped off the walls as it was splattered in all different directions. She could practically hear the excess blood from the blankets drip to the floor as the mutilated bodies laid there. Their eyes wide open staring at the ceiling and their mouths seemingly forced open to show a gaping expression. She couldn't even take another look at the graphic scene as she held in her sobs. With the last of her willpower, a hand shakily took her cell phone out of her pocket._

_"H-hello? My name is Ami Fuyuko and I would like to report the murder of my parents."_

* * *

_Ami sat at her porch steps as she watched the police carry her parent's covered bodies away. There was a mediocre detective asking her questions that she deemed pointless since the information he received wouldn't help at all. She knew the search called for different measures. At the moment, all she could do was hold her head and stare at the ground as she attempted to erase the image of her bloody parents out of her mind._

_"Miss Fuyuko, I'm sorry to hear about your loss."_

_No you're not._

_"But, is there any other relative you can stay with for the time being? It is dangerous for you continue to stay here."_

_No shit, you stupid detective. I should just take your job._

_She gave no response as she continued to stare at pavement. The middle-aged man just rubbed the back of his neck and was out of ideas on helping her._

_"Excuse me; I believe I may be of help. She is coming with me."_

_The detective nodded to the new stranger and backed away as Ami's head shot up. The man was just a tad old, dark blue eyes hid behind glasses; a very formal suit was worn with a fedora to top it off._

_"I am Watari. L has sent me to retrieve you."_

_"What? He wants me to __**meet**__ him?"_

_"I will not be answering any further questions until we reach our destination. Please pack up."_

* * *

_Ami's thoughts were distracted of what happened to her parents for a split second when she stepped out of the Rolls-Royce. The car itself was luxurious enough but the hotel proved even more. Whoever this man named L was, he sure knew how to travel and hide in style. Watari nodded at her and led her up the elevators and they finally arrived to a room. He turned his keys in the keyhole and they stepped in._

_Her eyes darted around the grand room and spotted a few computers and screens hooked up. But her eyes finally landed on the person in front of it. The messy ink-black hair, the plain white shirt, the faded jeans, the way the man crouched over, and the plate of stacked sugar cubes next to him all seemed too familiar. Everything seemed so slow when he turned to show her piercing dark eyes._

_"Ryuuzaki…?"_

_"I'd still like you to call me that."_

_"YOU'RE L?"_

_He stood up but uncomfortably scratched the back of his head._

_"You're the first outsider to know-"_

_"I don't freaking care! You're L! I can't believe this! You've been a total stranger this whole time and still are! Why did you even let me know your true identity now huh? No wonder speaking to you on my laptop earlier seemed all too coincidental of you contacting after receiving the riddle!"_

_There was a pause of silence and he only gave her a blank expression; seemed like he needed more sugar to function more smoothly._

_"The room to the right is yours. Feel free to let your stress out before having a conversation with me." He turned and went back to crouching in front of the computers._

_He was a totally different man than when she met him as __**Ryuuzaki**__…but it was just a fake character after all. This was his true self, and he was definitely not the same guy she would want to rush into his arms again the second time for comfort. How stupid could she be? She picked up her bags and stormed off to her room, a slam of the door following behind._

_L only clicked on the new pictures sent in from the police from the incident Ami had witnessed. He knew she had just encountered something horrible, but at this moment, he really wasn't the best man to do anything with "comforting". He was the world's greatest detective…and nothing else._

_"Wouldn't she be bothersome if she continues to behave this way?" Watari piped up._

_"She has great deductive reasoning skills and is probably the best with helping me on this case. It seems this is more difficult that I thought, Watari. Besides, it is too dangerous to let her go on her own now that her parents are gone. This is an obvious sign that she was supposed to be wiped out along with her family. There is no other way than letting her see my identity."_

_Watari nodded and went back to doing his own research. L hooked a finger on his bottom lip and glanced at her door._

* * *

There were probably two types of personalities that most people only care about; the one where a person doesn't care at all and the opposite of which one does. L was neither of them. Ami stared into his eyes as he still remained crouched in front of her after their brief conversation. He was her rival, her _idol_, and now he was right in front of her! She concluded that maybe there is another hidden meaning behind this rather than because she was "great at reasoning". He wouldn't have needed to reveal himself like this if he only needed her partial help. Assuming on an emotional situation rather than a case solving situation had a rule to not do it, but she really wanted to believe he cared enough let her stay with him away from the dangers that have risen. L was probably that type of man that didn't necessarily have to say he cared, but the actions he did indirectly meant he somewhat did.

It was the type of personality that people forget of: the one where the person doesn't want credibility for being caring; the one that hides it but still tries.

"Ami, I apologize for everything that has led you up till now. It's your choice in whether you want to stay here or not. Although I ask you to keep quiet about my identity if you choose to leave…but I still highly suggest you stay with us."

There it was again. It was his way of letting her know he was here for her. He was definitely still the man she met as Ryuuzaki.

"L?"

"Hmm?"

A hand reached out to touch one side of his face as she leaned to the other side to plant a light kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you."

The world's greatest detective was named L, and he had somewhat become Ami Fuyuko's savior.

* * *

**I sort of had trouble with this chapter, actually, I'm starting to feel my writer's block getting it on at the moment. I tried something different for this chapter with the flash back and all but I honestly think I could've been better. This chapter wasn't my best, haha. Any thoughts & feedback would be very much appreciated! o3o'**


	6. Filled with Emotions

_**Thank you for choosing to read this!**_

_**p.s. "Ami" is pronounced as "Ah-mee", it rhymes with "Cami", lol.**_

_**It's not pronounced as "Amy (Aim-mee)". Remember, she is Japanese. :)**_

* * *

It was _only_ about 4am to him while he dragged down pages of documents on his computer. One hand just rolled the middle mouse wheel as the other carefully held a lollipop with a thumb and forefinger. Although it seemed like he was paying attention to what was on the screen, thoughts of something else swam around in his head.

Yesterday wasn't so pleasant for him after all. Not only that, Ami Fuyuko threw in some confusion for him. His hand left the mouse and he slowly placed it on the cheek she had kissed the day before. Was that really necessarily though? Are all females that…shall he say, flirtatious? No, her intentions weren't of that, it was probably her way of thanking him with all her gratitude…probably. Even the world's greatest detective couldn't figure out a woman's implications.

After his successful attempt of comforting her yesterday, they had proceeded to go to his database and take a look at the case. He wasn't so considerate at the moment though when he had pulled up fresh pictures of her parent's revolting crime scene. Even if he had just revealed a softer side of him to her just that minute ago, his thoughts come and go very fast. But when he did finally realize what he was showing her, his eyes had taken a quick glance at her. His dark orbs only met a reflection of empty eyes as well.

It was as if she had turned into a statue when the screen was filled with crimson pictures. He was surprised she didn't break down again.

"Alright, what are we trying to find here?" She calmly stated.

"We are trying to spot anything out of place from the scene. At the moment, we cannot be physically there of course so we'll just have to settle for the pictures that were sent in."

"These pictures were sent in just today? Just a few hours ago?"

"…"

"Never mind that; ok. Alright, besides the blood splatters everywhere, I noticed how my parents didn't even bother to unpack their suitcases from their trip. My parents had written a note saying they were going out for this trip the night before but came back the next day. My guess is that they came back right before I came home today since my parents would never leave things out for later."

"So that means their flight was cancelled."

"We can assume that-wait! Do you see that?"

"Where?"

Ami pointed a slender finger at the screen at two pieces of paper on the night stand next to where her father would be sleeping, "These must be the tickets they had purchased!"

L's toes fidgeted while he obviously bit the nail of his thumb; he clicked on the area of the tickets to zoom in. He pressed two buttons on the keyboard to make the screen of better quality and the tickets appeared as if it wasn't distorted at all.

"Wow, your technology is something."

He turned his head to her and gave her a blank stare before saying, "You actually think I'd have mediocre computers to track down criminals? If that was the case, I'd might as well buy a kid's computer from the toy store."

"Alright, sheesh. It was just a compliment. I'm technology deprived alright?"

"How did you even solve minor cases in the past then?"

"Humans other than yourself are smarter than you think, you know."

He turned back and read the tickets, ignoring her statement. Her parents were both scheduled for a night flight indeed. His eyes narrowed as some nagging feeling came about. Ami pulled up a phone next to all the computers and began dialing a number. L only gave her a strange look but she pressed a finger to her lips telling him to hush.

"Hello, I would like to confirm something with the airline company. Was there a flight at 9:06pm last night?" She paused for a moment, "Oh? So the times would be impossible to do, am I correct? Alright, I would also like to ask if two people with the names of Kenji and Yukiji Fuyuko bought tickets from the airlines".

After a moment she put the phone down and her brows furrowed as she faced L.

"It was said that the planes come and go in intervals every half hour so a 9:06 flight would not be able to occur. Not only that…my parents never bought these tickets we see here."

L somehow whipped out a chocolate bar and munched on it while thinking.

"These tickets were given to them by somebody. When they realized that the tickets were fake at the airport, they proceeded to stay a night at a hotel since it was a far drive. By the time they got back, you were still either at school or at work and the killer was waiting for them already. He might have thought that he would catch all of you off guard since you all would be coming back from a stressful day and just want to go home to relax. But he only managed to get your parents."

"Yes, but why didn't he just stay back and wait for me if I wasn't home yet?"

"Hmm…"

"They obviously know some background information about me as you said before. What if they wanted to kill my parents off to leave me vulnerable to save me for last?"

"Whatever the case may be, we still don't have a lead. All we know is that you are at a high risk of being the next victim."

"No, we do have somewhat of a lead! This person _knew_ where I lived. He knew who my parents were to give these tickets to. This person may be somebody I don't notice carefully in my everyday life."

_Hm, she does have a good point there…no wonder she mentions the word 'stalker' so much._

"Alright then, then that just means-"

"That just means I will still be continuing school tomorrow." Ami interrupted.

"What? Ami, I know you have duties to fulfill but did you not hear me say you are the next potential target?"

"All the more reason to keep going back to school right? You may be the one doing the research back here but I am the only one social enough to retrieve information. If this person is after me, then I will somehow figure out who he is."

L's eyelids half lowered as he licked melted chocolate off his fingers. He didn't like the idea of her being so persistent of going out to the dangers. It was an overwhelming feeling of a need to protect her. This thought made him conscious enough to remember to shift his weight on his bent legs, something he was never aware of.

Not only that, he couldn't understand how well she was handling all of this. Just an hour ago she was in an emotional breakdown and now she was faced with pictures of her murdered parents. He was almost afraid she would have had a mental meltdown after he pulled up the case right away. He was curious of her now. Just who is Ami Fuyuko? And what is she made of? She was like steel and it was like she wasn't affected by the tragic event just hours before.

As he thought of this, he suppressed a chuckle when he wondered if she had these thoughts about him as well. He knew that anybody that met him would of course wonder, "_Just what is he?_" But she didn't give off that vibe. She was the second person to act…comfortable next to him after Watari.

"Well it's getting late, I should get to sleep. Big day tomorrow…with school and all."

He watched the pink haired girl get up and walk to her room. From behind, she had a strong back. She held burdens with ease. He was almost envious of her when all the burdens he had over the years had made him hunched. He would have to physically try to straighten his back just like the second time he met her.

His dark rimmed eyes glanced back at the screen to close the documents. Watari had gone to grab more information from the police so it was just him and Ami behind her doors. He got up to walk to the windows and enjoyed the city lights in the night once again like every other night. His smooth features were then wrinkled with a frown when he heard noises behind her door. He slowly walked closer to her door and stood in front of it.

She was crying. Her soft sobs gave him the image of a small fragile girl curled up in bed attempting to comfort herself with tears.

He was wrong. She carried the same amount of burdens he had but only she could somehow stand so strong against it. The truth was she wasn't a statue and she wasn't made out of steel at all. She wasn't even deprived of emotions like he was. She felt so much more than he would ever. For the first time ever, he felt a small bubble of intense emotions rush through him as he just stood in front of her door. L only kept telling himself that he couldn't do anything more for her than to just solve this case.

_Maybe this is what being guilty feels like._

* * *

Ami softly jabbed the eye bags that developed overnight. Red rings accompanied her eyes and she looked almost like a white piece of paper. If it wasn't for the excessive crying to cause the red rings and the pink hair, she could probably pass as a relative of L. She sighed but a small giggled left her lips at that thought.

_Never thought my life would turn out this way…_

She frowned when she thought about what would happen once this is all over. Would she still be living with L? No, he travels all over the world so she wouldn't be able to. Besides, he was only pitying her and letting her stay with him for the time being, he would never bring her along anywhere else.

In fact, he would probably just forget he even met her at all.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

_Well it doesn't matter anyway! It's not like we're in some close relationship anyway. We're just partners…yea, that's all._

She walked over to her bags to pull out an outfit for school.

* * *

Ami flipped over a page in her law book as she lazily scanned over the words. She wasn't a genius or anything, but she knew these passages came easily to her. It's all part of being too interested in the subject. But it also helped her cope with the thought of knowing everything around her was just normal. Nobody knew what happened to her, nobody ever will.

She was sitting outside at a table today to let the cold breeze brush against her face. Staying inside studying rooms just suffocated her now. She just didn't want to be around people that were always frantically turning pages. Those students didn't even know they were spared of being killed.

"Ami?"

Blue orbs met brown ones.

"Good morning Chizu!"

"Hey there! What are you doing outside here all alone?"

"Just reading."

Her friend sat in front of her and rested her chin on a hand.

"Are you okay? You seem…dead."

"I practically am, Chizu"

"What? What's wrong? Tell me. You have eye bags Ami!"

Ami managed to give off a small laugh, "It's a metaphor Chizu. Calm down, I'm just tired of school, work, and uh, life at home, that's all."

"Oh, I see…"

"How are your studies going?"

"It's going great! I feel more motivated." Chizu grinned.

"That's good."

"Uh-oh, danger oncoming."

"Huh?"

Ami turned to see that Jiro Hideki was approaching them, with the addition of his creepy aura of course. His black bangs still covered the top of his face while his glasses shielded dark eyes. His hand slowly shakily rose up to wave as he came to closer view. Chizu just stood up when he attempted to sit next to her.

"H-hi Ami…"

"Um, hi? What are you doing here?" She didn't want to be judgmental, but she couldn't help it. This guy didn't care that students died and he was just somewhere out of this place…in a bad way.

"Are you still single?" He grinned.

"What?"

A toothy grin.

"What the hell? Leave Ami alone!" Chizu interrupted.

"This is none of your business, go away."

Chizu was about to raise her hand but Ami stopped her while getting up herself.

They both calmed down as Jiro just sat there, his arms now crossed, still grinning.

"I can…comfort you Ami…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know all about it. I can get my hands on any information. I won't tell anybody if you be my-"

"I apologize beforehand, but I think you need to leave her alone."

They all turned to see the same insomniac man Ami knew. He had a hand on the back of his head to scratch his messy hair while one of his feet was out of his shoe to use his toes to play with the shoe laces on the other. A loud crunch was heard from the candy he was chewing as his sleepy eyes focused on the group.

"I remember you; you were that creep that followed these girls to me." Jiro only continued to grin.

"Oh? I guess we are on the same page then."

"Grr, whatever, get the hell away from here. I was about to ask Ami something important, if you all don't mind."

"In fact, I do mind."

Ami's eyes widened when she realized L, the person they know as _Ryuuzaki_, was stepping closer.

"Pack your things, Ami. I'll walk you to class."

At this point, Ami, Chizu, and Jiro were astonished. Ami just did what he said but took glances at him for answers. His face was just blank as ever as he played with a piece of hair that dropped in front of his face.

"Wait a minute; just who do you think you are? You're not taking Ami away from me just yet!" Jiro stood up.

"Just what exactly is going on here?!" Chizu placed a hand on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, but she's a busy person with other important things to do."

"Wait, Ryuuzaki, what makes you think you know her so well-"

Chizu was just cut off and Ami just froze when she felt a hand intertwine with hers.

Everything and everyone just stopped talking and Chizu and Jiro's eyeballs moved to their hands. L only sighed and gently yanked her away from the table.

"C'mon, don't want to be late now."

As they were far away enough, Ami glanced back to see the two still staring at them.

"L?..."

"Hmmm?"

"You can let go now…"

They both looked at their hands and he awkwardly retracted his hand and shoved them in his pockets.

"Sorry, it was the only way to lead you away from them; looked like you needed help."

She watched him walk ahead of her. He was still slouchy and unorganized but she smiled. He came out to look out for her.

_But is that really the only way to help me out?_

She raised an eyebrow as she thought about this. She looked at her hand and another smile came again.

_His pockets must have kept his hands warm in this cold fall._

In the now distance, Jiro sat there by himself.

He smirked.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait my dear readers! School has been hectic the last month and it's now March, meaning March Madness! I have so many things to do and trust me when I say this, I really wanted to continue the chapters of this story. So I gave up some time to type out this next chapter. It's very soothing though since I have a cup of hot dark chocolate cocoa and it's raining at night right this moment. Thank you all to those who waited patiently and the reviews made me happy, haha. I have a lot of followers for this story as well! So glad people actually want to read this. :) This chapter is meant to be extra long to make up for waiting time and for the long wait you'll all have to go through again this month. ): Enjoy though!**


	7. A Day Off

**_Thank You for choosing this to read!_**

* * *

He sat on the Victorian styled armchair couch in his usual position again today and was reaching forward with a long slender arm to add _several_ cubes of sugar into his coffee. He sipped it to cause one of his eyebrows raise to either a satisfaction or the opposite, who knows. The blank expression was turned towards Ami's door though. It was a Saturday, a day off from school and work for her and more time to spend with L. Not in that way of course, more rather, more time to cooperate on the case. He tapped his knee that was bent toward his chin as he realized it was already an hour before noon.

_Is she still asleep?_

A person like L would never understand the concept of "sleeping in" and well…the eye bags already explain why. He just didn't expect Ami to be the type of person to be doing so. L hopped off the couch and stretched his legs for a second then proceeded to head towards her door. His hands were shoved into his pockets but he still attempted to lean in to listen for any sounds on the other side of her door. He forgot how every hotel had sound proof barriers so he sighed and raised his hand to knock twice.

"Ami? Are you awake?"

No response.

His hands reached for the knob and it turned easily.

_This girl…how does she even survive in society?_

His head poked through the wide enough gap he made for himself to take a peek inside. The room was still dark due to the curtains being untouched. His dark eyes noticed the still sleeping bundle on the large bed. The door opened wider for him to finally walk in. L's jeans were always somehow a bit long on him so whenever he walked without shoes, they made audible shuffling noises against the carpet. This didn't disturb the sleeping figure though as he walked closer and finally to the side where she was facing. His forefinger jabbed his upper lip as he examined her.

Her arms were laid out in front of her as the blanket covered up to her shoulder. Her pink hair seemed to sprawl out perfectly around her as she slept. She slept soundly as her breathing was calm. As L watched her sleep, he wondered if sleep felt good as Ami represented it. He proceeded to crouch down in front of her so he was eye level to the edge of the bed. His eyelids closed half way to give off a bored look as he continued to examine the features of the girl in front of him. He noticed how long her eyelashes were and how her lips parted just slightly as she breathed. She just seemed…more peaceful while she slept. He compared this to when she was awake; the features of stress and worry would mask the beauty she had. As his thoughts swirled around, he snapped out of it.

_If this continues…perhaps I am…a pervert? Is that what they label it nowadays?_

He only thought of it as admiring somebody but that was just him. As he stood up and turned to leave before Ami could wake up any second, he felt a tug on his sleeve. His head turned back to see her fingers gripping onto it, but she was still asleep.

"Ami...?" He sighed.

He attempted to tug his sleeve away and even gently pry her fingers off but next thing he knew, both her arms threw him over to her other side. His eyes widened to come face to face with her sleeping figure…and her body snuggled against him with her arms wrapped around his waist.

Body contact always did make L uncomfortable, especially with the opposite gender since he never had any experience in that…

"Ami…Ami, oh great, what am I to do...?" He whispered. He sighed again and just awkwardly laid there next to her, hoping for her to wake up soon.

Before he focused his eyes on the ceiling though, he gently swept a lock of pink hair away from her face.

* * *

Ami never really remembered her dreams when she woke up, but for the first time in awhile, this dream was very vivid. Her blue eyes once again met the crimson walls. A thick red liquid raced to her feet as she was standing on nothing but darkness. She raised her hands to see the same sticky blood on her hands and her eyes widened as her mouth opened to scream.

"Ah!"

Her head shot right up into reality. She held her head and rubbed her eyes a bit before looking at the clock beside her.

_12:05pm…ugh, what nightmares can do to you…_

She flopped right back down to her pillow and rolled to the side with her eyes closed. But something was just rather off, and that meant there was a rather large amount of pressure on the side she was facing. Her eyes opened to meet dark hollow ones.

"EEGAH! What the?! L?! What are you doing here? More rather, what are you doing in my bed?!"

"Good afternoon to you too, sleeping beauty." He got up to only position himself back to crouching as his hand rubbed the back of his neck.

Ami was now standing over her bed facing him with her arms crossed.

"Are you going to answer my question? Or are you going to admit you are a pervert?"

"So that confirms my suspicions on what I'd be called…"

"What?"

"You have one tough arm lock when you're sleeping."

Several pieces of hair bounced up from her head and she wasn't sure if it was from the irritation or just bed hair.

"On a more serious note, I was checking up on you since it was way past the time of what a normal human being would sleep in for. You just happen to be a wrestler while you sleep."

"You could have knocked."

She watched him get off the bed with his hands still in his pockets. He headed for the door and glanced back, "You are a heavy sleeper. And if you are thinking _I _am not a normal human being for not sleeping at all, I never admitted to being fully human. Now, next time, if you want your security, lock the door," with that he left the room.

She huffed and face palmed herself. She then plopped onto the bed to muffle her frustrated cry.

_Just how long was I lying in bed with him?! Lord, forgive me!_

L's head popped back in, "Oh, I suggest you get up, the case won't solve itself."

_Yeah, but you can probably solve it without me._

"And no, I can't solve it without you, if I could, I wouldn't need you," He read her mind.

Her blue eyes peeked at him and his own just remained bored, supervising to see if she would actually get up.

* * *

She stared at him while he took a scoop off a piece of strawberry shortcake and shoved it into his mouth. He was crouching on the individual sofa chair while she sat across from him arms crossed. As he raised a strawberry in the air with a finger and thumb and his tongue sticking out, his gaze averted to her direction. He popped it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed before saying, "Is something the matter Ami? You've been giving me that displeased look for quite awhile now."

"How long were you in bed with me?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes away, "We are still on this?"

"I have the right to know since a man I barely met a few weeks ago was in bed…WITH ME! Dear Lord, that is forbidden for young girls such as myself."

"But I have already explained that you pulled me in while I was attempting to escape. There's nothing more to that. I wouldn't want be just laying there on the same bed with a woman such as yourself either. In fact, I haven't been near a bed in _years_ or a woman up until now," he paused to lick frosting off his finger before adding, "not only that, you're almost 22 now, Ami…"

"Wait, 'a woman such as yourself'? What's that supposed to mean? And that's still young!"

"You claim you are of such divine purity, I wouldn't want to taint that." He ignored her statement of being young all together though. There was nothing young in being almost mid-20, he would know of course.

L sure did have his way with words. Ami still had to get used to his way of speaking since his way of talking was making the other person not knowing if he was being nice or just being a plain jerk.

"I didn't claim it, it's just a moral I live by. Why would I be sharing a bed with a man that I don't- you know what, never mind."

"Your morals aren't broken since I didn't intend to share the bed with you anyway. Like I said, it was an accident. You were given a room to yourself for a reason you know. Not only that, I _wasn't _even sleeping, since you make it sound like we slept together or something. Please let it go."

"I was given my own room yet not my own privacy?"

"You are at your own fault for not securing that privacy by not locking that door. I was merely checking up on you. Privacy and worrying are two different categories."

"Worrying? Hah, don't make me laugh."

"But I didn't intend to make you laugh. You may think whatever you want Ami, now, can we please just let this go? I didn't realize having a partner was this-"

"This what?" She interrupted. She got up from her couch with her arms still crossed while giving him a raised eyebrow. He still had that bored look on his face as he reached for something else to satisfy his taste buds. If he was as irritated as Ami was, he was good at hiding it…or maybe he just didn't care at all. It was a meaningless conversation yet Ami's typical woman instincts told her to drag it out for some reason. Deep inside, she knew this was stupid yet here she was, attempting to start an argument.

"You can finish the sentence because I am done with this topic. Now, would you please calm down so I can pull up the documents for the case?"

"You're so arrogant L. You choose your words _**so **_carefully because you think a person like myself would not decipher the hidden meanings. Well you know what? I understand what you really mean when you say something that is neither insulting nor complimenting, because really, you are more into the insults. You probably think to yourself how ignorant I am while you attempt to confuse me, but like I said in the past L, you aren't the only one with a brain here."

She turned her heels and went towards the door. Before her hands could turn the knob to open the door, L said something that would keep her thinking while she went out for brunch.

"I've always thought you to be intelligent, that's why you understand the sentences I say."

That was one thing she _didn't _understand though. She didn't reply and just headed out to the food hall.

During that whole time, Watari was listening to their conversation while filing important documents. L just turned to him with a gloomy look and went back to sitting at his couch. Watari adjusted his glasses before getting up to head out to find Ami.

* * *

**Reviews would be nice. I only got one last chapter (Thank you Tsuki!) and that disappoints me a lot. My chapters will start to become slower to update if I'm getting no feedback.** **They are every author's motivation after all. :)  
**


	8. Understandings and Safety

**_Thank You for choosing this story to read._**

**_& Special thanks to those who reviewed last chapter!_**

**_Your replies will be at the bottom memo. :)_**

* * *

L sighed to himself and only heard his own breathing in the quiet hotel room. Ami surely overreacted and somehow, it was stressing him more out than any other case in his life.

_Perhaps she's on that time of month…?_

He blinked and bit his thumb. Since when did he think about a person that isn't involved in a case this much? Well, she was his partner on the case, so he somewhat had permission to think about her, right? He thought about the human biology of being sexually attracted to the opposite gender. He didn't understand it. Yes, when he was just a young boy at Wammy's House, they still had the appropriate education for the orphans. They were after all; all gifted and still required rigorous lessons before growing old enough to leave the orphanage.

But sexual attraction in the subject of biology was something he slept through or even skipped out on during his private lessons. Now here he is, wondering about why her pink hair, her blue eyes, and her confident personality made him curious. L scratched his jet black hair and attempted to push these unnecessary thoughts to the back of his brain as he forced his focus on the new documents sent in.

One slender figure tapped the mouse and his lips slowly formed a frown.

* * *

Ami pushed her noodles on her bowl around the soup as her head rested on her hand. She sighed and twisted the chopsticks to twirl the noodles and eat.

_I wasn't being logical, was I?_

Now that her temper was cooled down, she realized how much of a jerk she was. She had let her woman instincts take over and was being unreasonable. This was something rare to happen to a person like Ami. She thought back to how she woke up with L next to her.

Her cheeks warmed and it was definitely not from the hot noodles in front of her.

_He is just too strange._

She shook her head and only focused on filling her stomach before going back to the room. As she was enjoying her food, a chair pulled out in front of her and an elderly hand placed coffee in front of him as he sat comfortably down.

"Watari! I wouldn't expect you to come out like this."

He smiled and took a sip out his Earl Grey tea first before replying, "I wouldn't leave a lady such as you with no company. England taught me better."

"Oh, thank you Watari, you are too kind."

There was a brief silence while they occupied their mouths with their edibles.

"Watari, may I ask you more about…your background?"

His dark blue eyes twinkled as he smiled, "When you say my background, do you mean _his_?"

"You can see it that way. But I'm going to assume that you raised him all your life so when I ask for 'background' it wouldn't matter, would it?"

Watari chuckled. He thought to himself how L sure snagged one hell of a partner. She would be great competition in the detective world if they went against each other.

"I hope you don't mind telling me anything. For starters, you both come from England…it must be nice over there," her voice held the utmost curiosity.

"Perhaps, we lived there most of our times so it is not as interesting to us compared to coming here to Japan. Maybe one day you should come to England?"

"I would love that. I'll just need to practice my English more."

Watari sipped his tea before glancing up at her. She only stared at him, waiting for if whether he was going to tell her anything about L's life. "_These two kids are one of a kind, hm?_" he thought to himself.

"If I told you I'm quite a successful inventor and used my fortunes to build several orphanages for gifted children after World War II, would you believe me?"

"It depends, what exactly did you invent?"

Watari chuckled and sat back, more relaxed, "That is story for another time. For now I'll tell you how _he _became the way he is now," he paused to see if Ami was fully interested and it seemed like she was genuinely more interested than her meal at the moment, "Wammy's House, that was the orphanage he was first brought into and he was the same as now, even worse probably. That child isolated himself from other children and never showed his face outside his room. I couldn't do anything to get him to socialize! So from there, I figured I should just start giving him cases from a young age, which was something that would keep him occupied before he was ready to set foot out the doors."

"But what made him want to even solve those cases you gave him? What made him want to become a detective?"

"Ami, I'm not entirely sure his reasons either…but I did know it was something he wanted to passionately pursue. But even when he left the orphanage during his teen years, he had never shown his face to the other children. Hm, yet they admire him so. It's quite surprising how some of the children didn't even know he was an occupant at Wammy's House!" Watari sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before taking another sip of his tea, "He may be all grown up now, but he still may sometimes act like a child. That's how he lives. He believes that's how a person can stay and feel young. He was just so lost in his own world at a young age without even knowing why his existence was important. Perhaps maybe that's why he became a detective Ami, to create a sense of who he is today, to be somebody who is known to protect without needing rewards. So from there, he decided to carry all the burdens of the world on his shoulders."

"And so he sits all day and night staring at these cases to the point where he hunches and there is no backache anymore. He deprives himself of sleep because there will always be a case for him to solve. But why does he eat so many sweets?"

"Ami, you pretty much had him all figured out by now. He may say things and mean the other, but that's because _you _are the first person he's ever permitted himself to interact with. So he is probably not quite used to holding onto his tongue. Not only that, sarcasm is his favorite language," Watari chuckled before adding, "Sweetness masks the bitter taste in a person's mouth, Ami; the bitter taste of knowing what the world is like and having not enough power to do anything."

She ate the last of her noodles before dabbing her mouth with a napkin. She sighed and looked at Watari again before saying, "If only all those cakes made him talk sweetly too."

He laughed, "That would be quite odd even for L."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess after all this, I understand him a bit better. Perhaps I should go back and…apologize." She cringed a bit after saying the last part. She always had trouble apologizing to somebody and that's because she always won in an argument; but not this time.

They both stood and headed back to the room. Before they finally arrived at the door Ami turned to Watari, "Did you come out to keep me company or to clear things up for L?" she gave him a wondering smirk with a brow raised.

"Miss Fuyuko, that is something in which you can decide."

* * *

Ami stood at the door and turned to see Watari already sitting down at his spot, giving her a nod. She took a breath and walked towards the crouched figure. She decided to calmly sit next to him on the floor cross legged before taking a look at him.

He was biting onto his thumbnail as usual when he is intensely focused on something. It took him a minute to realize she was right next to him.

"Oh, Ami. You've come back; have you come to your senses?"

_Refrain yourself from choking him Ami…refrain yourself…_

"Yes…um..er…I would like to apologize for earlier. I was being foolish…"

He blinked, "Oh…well, I guess I'm sorry for making the start of your day a surprise. I assure you it won't happen again."

Ami gave him a small smile while nervously twirling a lock of pink hair around his fingers.

"I got to say Ami, I thought you'd be too stubborn to approach me this early."

"Well, let's just say I had a little help," she glanced back to Watari who looked up and winked.

"Alright then, Ami, new documents were sent in today. This is pretty gruesome."

"What is it?"

He clicked open a picture and Ami cringed and looked away for a second before slowly adjusting her eyes to forcibly take a look at the picture.

It was a man in the name of Takeshi Okito who had been drugged, dragged into an abandoned warehouse, tied down and cut into pieces. His face was covered with a note.

"This man, he was in the CIA with your mother, Ami. Do you know of him?"

"No, my mother kept her work in confidentiality."

"I see, I guess that was an absurd question to ask since this is the CIA we are talking about. Anyway, any ideas on why he would be a victim? Perhaps he is personally connected to your mother…"

"I would agree on that too. The killer isn't killing random people anymore. Or perhaps he wasn't randomly killing in the first place?"

"What do you suggest?"

"Well, let's assume that this person…is **really** after me."

"…Why would you say that?"

"He murdered top scholars in law, I can't figure out why he would murder Ichiba Souji since it would've been more beneficial to keep a professor experienced in the subject, but he missed me, thus killing off my parents first since he somehow knew they would attempt to track him down, due to their background experience, if I was killed first. This man, Takeshi Okito could have been a good friend of my mother and spent a lot of time doing detective research but was found out and killed off."

L narrowed his eyes on the screen and continued to bite his nail but stopped to unwrap a lollipop instead to ease the pressure off his nails.

"Yet this comes down to the question of if this is a student at your school or a chance of it being somebody within the CIA since they knew about what Takeshi Okito was doing if he was doing what you suggested."

Ami sighed and glanced back at the screen too, "Wait, what does the note stuck to his face say?"

L hesitated to zoom in and show her as his dark eyes only rotated to the corner to see her staring at him, waiting for him to click on.

"Well? C'mon L, why are you lagging for?"

"It's what I do."

She rolled her eyes and swiped the mouse away from him before he could react. She clicked ahead and every muscle in her body just seemed to tense.

**A year, a week, a month, a day, guess when I'll have you?**

Glued to the note was a picture of Ami; seemingly taken at a far away distance without her ever knowing.

Her eyes were fiercely scratched out.

* * *

"You still want to proceed to go on your everyday life when the danger level of you being out there just spiked to maximum?"

"L, at least we know this person is most likely around my campus area."

"That makes it worse!"

Ami turned back from her door frame and crossed her arms.

"I didn't know you cared for me _this_ much."

"The question is, why _wouldn't _I care for a person's safety? I'm a detective for god's sake. You're also my partner in this case; I can't afford to lose you due to the lack of my protection."

Her blue eyes softened and she took a step to him. He surprisingly didn't glance away but instead scratched the back of his head in wonder.

"We both knew what we've gotten ourselves into when we wanted to go into this field right? I'm not like you L, I can't stay cooped up into a hotel all my life. I'm willing to risk my life in a different way than you do."

L wanted to ask why such a person like her would even be on this field. She was too fragile. She still cried herself to sleep since the day her parents died. Meeting those bright red eyes every morning still gave him an aching feeling that he couldn't understand. It was better if she just remained a bakery shop girl her whole life.

"Ami please, listen to me, you are also my responsibility now. If you died your parents would haunt me for one: taking you in knowing you'd be with a man that isn't of any much important significance and two: for letting you walk into the hands of death!"

"L, you didn't sound like yourself while you said that," she laughed, "But thank you, you're probably the closes to what a lover I never had would say."

"…" This was when his vacant expression started to take its effect. He had realized he said something that he never thought he'd ever say and Ami had thrown back something that he thought he'd never hear.

_Lover._

"Um..erm…I'm going to send a bodyguard for you. You'll be on surveillance while you head to school and work tomorrow."

"L! I can take care of myself out there."

"It's for your own safety. You didn't even lock your door while you slept this morning Ami, I wouldn't be too sure of that."

She grumbled something and turned back to her bedroom entrance, preparing to end the day.

"L? If I did get into trouble, would you come looking for me?"

"Well with the technology and force behind me-"

"No, that's not what I meant…I meant would you come find me in person?"

"…"

"Haha, it's so strange how you had met me in person yet now it's not something you would do after saying you want to protect your partner." She headed in and gently closed the door without waiting for his reply. The audible click of the lock was heard to let him know she remembered to lock up this time.

"Yeah…strange."

* * *

**_I had quite some trouble on this chapter since I improvised Watari and Ami's conversation. I don't know if some of you noticed but I honestly think this chapter was sort of dull? What do you lovely readers think? ):_**

**_School is almost ending so I'm going through some crazy times at the moment! Although, Death Note has helped me a lot on one of my psychology exams since we were learning about inductive and deductive reasoning, haha. _****xD ****_I'm probably going to apply the knowledge I learn within my major into this story to spice things up more. :)_**

**Tsuki of the Red Jade:** Thank you! And lol! Your mother must have been startled! You never know what happens during your sleep. x)

**Akanokumo:** Oh dear, I'm so happy that you actually like the story and read it up all the way until now! I'm pretty sure some people turn away after the first or second chapter, but I'm glad there are people like you who enjoy this story enough to stick around. :') And yes, I dislike those type of stories too, there always needs to be some development between two characters to lead up to romance of course.

**urmomreadsfanfiction:** Thank you for the idea! I always take my reader's ideas into consideration and I got to admit, that is a really good idea! I've been having trouble making the romance between L and Ami progress a bit faster and your idea just might jump start it. Look forward to seeing your suggestion in a chapter or two! :D

**Jestie Uchiha:** Yes, you have it right that I made it too obvious. ;) I'm trying to put in many twists and turns without confusing my readers as much as possible so don't jump to conclusions too easily now! Haha, and I wouldn't have Watari telling Ami that L likes her already if they haven't even gone through a lot of development! I don't know, I want to make things go faster between them but I feel like they don't know each other well enough to start doing so? L has been excluded from people his whole life, how can he suddenly like somebody already? I'm pretty stumped.

**And thanks to the rest of my reviewers who said they are liking this story so far! :) I'm always open to any ideas and suggestions.**


	9. The Riddler's Victim

_**Thank You for choosing this story to read!**_

* * *

"I never thought you would be contacting me again after the L.A.B.B. case."

"This is another task that is just as important. I do hope you are fine with this."

"No…I just find how lucky you are to be contacting me while I'm on a trip back to Japan."

"Hmm…well I hope you can protect her."

"It won't be a problem. You already know about my capoeira skills."

"I apologize for asking you to do this the second time and thank you again."

"Just one question, L."

There was a pause over the phone as Naomi Misora heard slight shuffling noises on the other end. She was indeed the one asked to be a personal bodyguard to a girl named Ami Fuyuko. The only thing that puzzled her was who was this girl to L? The man that still used an artificial voice when talking to her was asking her to do something that she never would have imagined being asked. He seemed pretty urgent about it despite his speech being monotonous.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Who is she to you?"

"…Let's just say 'somebody important.'"

* * *

Blue eyes blinked as she stared at the small cell phone held in front of her face with a thumb and finger.

"What is this?"

"For a person who aspires in becoming a detective, you aren't so bright on seeing that this is a cell phone." L held that lowered-eyelid-blank-face once again as he said this. He was still waiting for her to reach out and grab it once realizing that this was a gift to her.

"Quite rude are you? I meant why is this being given to me?"

"Isn't that obvious? You are very hard to contact when I don't decide to see the sun on a daily basis."

She rolled her eyes and finally snatched the gadget out of his hand. He lowered his arm while his eyes returned to being wide and round, indicating he was satisfied.

"Now, if you follow me here," he walked back to crouch in front of his laptop, "you can see that I've already assigned a trustworthy bodyguard for you. I've worked with her before so you can rest assured that you'll be safe out there. She'll probably meet up with you to introduce herself while you are on campus."

Ami bent down beside him to see a picture of a young woman not so much older than themselves. She had black hair that complimented her pale serious expression and below her picture read "NAOMI MISORA". A current FBI agent that helped solved the known L.A.B.B. case.

"Impressive, but seriously L, I don't see why this is necessary. I'll be surrounded by people throughout the whole day."

"Which makes it even more dangerous." He turned to her while biting his thumbnail.

Sighing, she got up and grabbed her materials and before heading out she glanced back to say, "Thanks for caring though."

When L heard the click of the door, he still stared at his computer screen, unmoving. The only thing heard in the room was the slight shuffling sound of his feet rubbing against each other and Watari typing at his desk.

"Things are going to get more complicated from now on, Watari."

Watari looked up, "Hm? The case is rather a bit difficult this time isn't it?"

"I don't mean that Watari…"

L's expression was one that showed he was trying his best to keep it vacant, but at the same time, he held back the look of worry and confusion.

* * *

"That L, just what makes him think I'll know how to use this?" A puzzled look plastered her face the entire time as she walked through the college campus. The phone was flipped open and she was randomly pressing buttons in an attempt to getting used to the cellular device, "I am pretty sure I remember telling him I am not great with technology…ah, that man." As she mumbled to herself she noticed she was getting near the bench she usually sat at. Chizu, her one and only best friend was sitting there. There was something off about her though. Ami wasn't sure if it was because Chizu was just sitting there looking dazed or the pale sickly appearance she held. Ok, it was all of the above.

"Chizu?"

Her blond friend slowly made eye contact. Ami was shocked to see the empty eyes her friend held.

"What's wrong Chizu? You don't look so well!"

Before Ami realized it, she quickly caught the ill girl from falling over, "Chizu? Chizu!"

Next thing she knew, she was sitting next to where her friend laid in the infirmary. Everything was just spiraling down into a disaster hole at this point in her life. If something was to happen to her dear friend right after what happened to her parents, she'd probably be placed into a mental facility. Ami didn't even realize the muscle strain she was developing from having her eyebrows furrowed for such a long period of time. Finally, Chizu began to stir and her eyes slowly opened.

"Chizu! Thank goodness you're alright!" The pink haired girl grabbed her friend's hand with a small worrisome smile.

"A-Ami? What happened?"

"You fainted. The nurse said you lacked sleep and you're malnourished. Chizu, why aren't you taking care of yourself! I have been such a bad friend if I haven't noticed this sooner."

"Ami, they are gone."

"Who is gone?"

"My parents…they are gone. He got to them…the killer."

"What?!"

It was one thing that Ami had to deal with her parents being completely gone but she remembered that Chizu was also one of the last surviving students of the Riddler's recent murders. Things were getting more confusing now that she was fed this new information. If Chizu's parents were murdered as well, then that meant Ami's parents were not spontaneous kills to get to Ami. The killer was playing with them, attempting to break their will to make them easy targets and unfortunately, Chizu didn't have a strong mentality as Ami did. But at the moment, she shouldn't be focusing on the case.

"Chizu…"

"My mother was stabbed to death in the bathroom and my father…I don't know where he is. He is a current missing body." She began sobbing and Ami could only hug her, "I don't know what to do! My parents, oh...my parents! Ami you have to help me!"

"Chizu I-"

"Your parents can help me! Your mom is in the CIA and your dad still has connections with the FBI right? Your whole family is probably the best to help me out right now."

"Chizu I can't."

"What?! Your friend is in of your help Ami! Your best friend! Why else are you becoming a detective?"

"Chizu, my parents are dead."

There was a dead silence in the room as teary brown eyes stared into blue ones.

"What…" Chizu managed a whisper.

With a sigh, Ami sat back on her chair and crossed her arms. She closed her eyes in attempt to keep her emotions in checked. She hadn't talked about her parents to anybody yet and she started to feel the guilt for hiding it from her friend.

"They too, were murdered a few weeks back."

"Ami…why didn't you tell me?"

"I've been coping with it…for now the investigation is still taking place. And now with your parents on the list, this throws everything off from my theories."

"Wait, you sound like you don't care that your parents died! And you're _investigating_? What can you possibly do?! I know you're smart and all Ami, but you're not certified to be a detective yet! How can you sit so calmly there when our parents are gone?" Chizu stopped when her friend opened her eyes. The red rims gave away how Ami was forcing herself to not cry in all the mess.

"The only thing we can do now is find the murderer. I may not be much but I'm still going to try. I'm going to find justice for our parents Chizu. But right now, I want to support you and I want to apologize for not letting you know what happened to me. I think it was the worst time to tell you about myself as this was probably a double hit for you…"

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you…I just don't know what to do…what are we going to do?"

"Well first, are you staying with your relatives at the moment?"

"Yeah, they keep me on a lockdown all the time after what happened."

"Good. I am currently working with the, erm, detectives of the police force for the case. We'll catch him in no time Chizu, I promise." Ami yet again had to lie to her friend. The only detective she was working with was obviously that man with sarcastic remarks. She told herself it was just half a lie.

"Wow…you're really going ahead of yourself to be doing all that…makes me feel ashamed of just sitting here and crying." Chizu frowned and wiped another tear away. Ami only gave her a smile and squeezed her friend's hand.

"You have class soon Ami…you should get going."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to skip lectures today. This bed will be my comfort for the day."

"Oh alright, call me if you need anything."

"Call?"

"Oh yeah," Ami pulled out the new cell phone L had given her, "I finally got a cell phone! With a dangerous killer on the loose, I figured I'd need this. Here, I'll give you my number." She said yet another lie. Everybody who knew Ami would know that she would be better off without a cell phone, all except one of course. They exchanged numbers and Ami made sure her friend was alright once more before heading out the door.

"Wait, Ami."

"Chizu?"

"Where are you staying then? If your parents are gone…your relatives don't live in Kanto…"

"Umm…"

"Don't lie to me Ami. A vein would pop if I hear you're staying in your house alone…"

"Remember Ryuuzaki?"

Chizu's eyes went wide and Ami knew that if her friend wasn't so weak, she'd probably leap out of her bed to attack her.

"Well if you would look at the time! Hahaha, time for class!"

"AMI!"

The pinked haired girl dashed out of the room and took a breath while holding her chest.

_Chizu is going to spam call me later…I shouldn't have said that after giving her my number._

As she went on the day finishing her classes, she was preparing to get to work at her usual outside table when a shadow stepped over her. She looked up to meet the same lady she saw in L's computer.

"Hello, I'm Naomi Misora. You must be Ami Fuyuko am I correct?"

"Oh, um, yea that's me. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh thank goodness. I would be embarrassed if I approached the wrong person. L only gave me a description of you."

"Yeah, well, if he isn't hacking your computer, that's all he'd ever do; give you verbal descriptions of everything and let you figure out for yourself."

The raven haired woman laughed, "He did hack my computer before."

"He did it to me too!"

They both laughed and Naomi closed her eyes to transition her joyful expression to a more serious one.

"Now I am sure you know that I will be watching you from now on?"

"Oh yeah. I told him over and over that I wouldn't need it but I guess due to the circumstances right now…"

"Right, rest assured. I won't be interrupting your daily activities or anything. I'll just be watching for anything suspicious around you."

"Thank you. I appreciate it; even though it wasn't I who asked."

Naomi smiled as Ami proceeded to tell her that it was fine to just sit in the bakery shop where she worked and as a token of appreciation she'd treat her to something. As they walked, Ami then tells Naomi of all the strange crap L does when he thinks he isn't being watched by her such as staring intensely at his lollipops before biting them off the stick or sometimes playing with his gummy bears like what a little girl would do with her dolls.

"Wait, so you are _living _with him? You know what he looks like and all that?"

"Yup. And by now you know that he's just a strange man that has an intense sweet tooth."

Naomi only stayed quiet to ponder on this information. This girl was living with the legendary detective and she told stories of him as if she was more than fine with it. Just who were they to each other? This girl indeed needed a lot of protection if anybody else beside Naomi herself knew that she was close to L. Hence they only dared to refer L as "him" or "he" or else anybody with a good ear could hear their conversation on the street.

Naomi was curious on what their relationship was. L was taking such measures to guarantee Ami's safety and Ami was comfortable with living together with L despite the fact that she was probably only there to help him solve the case before finding new living arrangements.

Naomi only gave a small smile back as Ami pointedly happily at her bakery shop as they arrived.

* * *

Ami placed a cup of coffee in front of Naomi and was replied with a thank you.

"This place is very cozy. I never knew this bakery shop existed when living here in Japan."

"Haha, yeah. The shop is quite small but everybody is like family here. All our long time customers come back because we remember their names and already know their usual orders."

Naomi sipped her coffee and complimented on how there was a good balance of cream and coffee. She told a story of how she once met a man who added at least 20 packets of sugar into her coffee…

The doorbell rang indicating another customer came in.

"Welcome…" Ami trailed off to see a man covered from head to toe. His head was raised up to look at the menu.

"Do you not have any more lemon pound cakes?"

Ami's eyes widened and she began to tremble.

_This is the man!_

She felt a hand grab her arm and her frightened eyes met dark ones. Naomi stood up to whisper to her, "Tell the staff to leave through the back door. Hurry! I'll deal with this man." They nodded to each other.

"Oh I'm sorry; I'll go get them from the back right away!" Ami tried her best to not let her voice stutter as she pretended to seem nothing was wrong and rushed to the back immediately.

Naomi walked casually to the man and stood next to him, pretending to look at the menu as well.

"It's a fairly warm day today; may I ask why you are all covered up?"

The man hidden behind the sunglasses turned to her. The only skin that was exposed was his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as the trench coat and hat covered almost everything else.

"How rude, have you ever thought a man can have insecurities too?"

"That is an extreme attempt to hide it though."

There was silence between them but when Naomi opened her mouth to say another word, the man had quickly pulled something out from under his coat. She quickly went to the ground to kick his legs causing him to trip and a gun flying out of his hand. As she got on top of him preparing to take out her handcuffs, he head butted her causing her fall over and at the same time he kicked her fully off and quickly crawled to get his gun. Before Naomi could recover in time to pull out her own gun, a loud bang echoed off the walls.

Fortunately for her, the man was staggering to his feet while aiming the gun at Naomi so it only hit one of her legs but it was enough to make her crippled. Naomi cringed as her hand held the wound in attempt to prevent the blood from gushing out even more. The man ran to the back.

* * *

Ami finally managed to persuade that there was a customer out there who was dangerous to her co-workers and almost even pushed them out of the back door. They were confused while they followed her commands but just shrugged it off.

"You'll be working double shift if this was a joke, Ami." said one of them.

"Yeah yeah, just go! Hurry!"

She put her hands on his back and tried to make him move fast, "This isn't funny Shota! We have to go!"

He was always like this; always taking everything as a joke.

"You're probably just overreacting-"

A strong hand grabbed Ami's shoulder causing her to wince and the person shoved her to the side to punch the kid out cold.

"I'll let you live for buying me time, kid."

Shota groaned and passed out on the ground and before Ami could make a dash out the other way, the man already pushed her down and forced a white cloth on her. She struggled to pry him off but as she inhaled the chemicals into her body, her eyes rolled back and she passed out. He lifted her up over his shoulder and when he was about to leave out the back door (which was highly convenient for him), Naomi managed stop him in his tracks. One hand held the wall and the other aimed a gun at him. Sweat rolled down her forehead as she struggled to keep up.

"Don't you dare take her."

"Oh? You wouldn't want to shoot the girl instead do you? Besides," he pointed his gun with his free hand and shot her other leg, "You're in no position to tell me what to do. I'll let you live and see how fun this turns out." With that the man calmly walked out the door with Ami's limp body over his shoulder.

Naomi fell to the ground in agony now with both her legs damaged.

"Shit!"

Her hands shook fiercely as she took out her phone and dialed the number with no name.

"L? We have a big problem."

* * *

**There were a few L.A.B.B. references in this chapter, did any of you readers catch it? If you didn't read _Death Note: Another Note_, do it now!**


	10. A Disappointed Rescue

_**Thanks for choosing this story to read!**_

* * *

"I'm sorry for failing…I underestimated him." Naomi had her cell phone to her ear as she winced a bit when the doctor checked her bandages.

She was now going to have to rest and recover in the hospital. Her boyfriend, Raye Penber, was definitely going to throw a tantrum when he arrives to Japan from America.

_"What can I do to persuade you to quit the FBI?!" _He would probably say one of his favorite sentences which seemed more demanding than worrisome. And now with her two damaged legs, he has more than enough reasons to be nagging her once he's at her side. Still, Naomi understood why he would be so overprotective even though she wished their relationship would be more like L and Ami's. Too bad things aren't exactly the way she assumed it would be between them.

But at the moment, there was a bigger emergency to worry about than what type of relationship the two had.

"Don't fret over it; he had taken you at surprise."

"Yes…but what are we going to do now? Ami is…"

There was a pause from the robotic voice on the other end and after what seemed like minutes, Naomi heard him say, "I already have them tracked down."

The World's Greatest Detective was certainly living up to his title.

* * *

Ami groaned and tried to lift her hand to her head but discovered that she was strapped down to a table. Her eyes finally cleared to see that she was surrounded by darkness with the only light coming from the light bulb above her to secure some vision.

_Is this the part where the crazy doctor comes out from the shadows with a chainsaw?_

It was the worst moment to be thinking of horror movies, but she couldn't help it. She attempted to wiggle around to see if the ropes would loosen but if she had continued, the tight ropes would be digging into her skin.

There was a chuckle before the person spoke, "Struggling is futile."

Her blue eyes widened when she recognized that voice. His face and body emerged from the darkness to show his psychotic smile. He was still wearing his trench coat but his face wasn't covered anymore.

"You covered yourself to point where you muffled your voice out of recognition…well at least you had covered that hideous face, Jiro Hideki."

The boy scowled and took quick steps to her to give her a smack across the face. Ami let out a noise of shock but his hand roughly grabbed her chin and yanked it back to face him.

"I wouldn't be so rude while being held captive."

"I kept telling myself that you were just a sadistic man, but you really are a murderer!"

"Murderer?" Jiro took a step back to raise his eyebrow in surprise, "I know I kidnapped you and shot your pathetic bodyguard but it wasn't enough to kill her."

"You're the riddler! You killed those students didn't you? You wanted to be at the top of school so you got rid of them and then you killed my and Chizu's parents to mess with us!"

Jiro's eyes widened but then a look of realization came across his face. He threw back his head to roar in laughter, "Oh Ami! You are so naïve! Well it's true that I wanted those wretched students out of my way to be at the top, but do you really think I am capable of carrying out such a massacre?!"

"Your family is rich with power! You could have easily used that to hire assassins."

"Yes, my _family _is, but I wouldn't be gaining any of it until I graduated. But I realized I wanted something else."

He took a step closer and his hands rested on her face, Ami tried not to vomit in her mouth and jerked her head away. This only caused Jiro to grab her face again, "You were the first girl to ever talk to me kindly. I fell in love with you," He let the back of his fingers brush against her skin as his hands trailed down her neck, "But after I confessed my love to you, you shunned me! You treated me as if I was a disease and avoided me! That's when I realized you were like all the other women, you pitied me!"

Ami scowled, "You were _stalking _me! There is a big difference between liking somebody and being creepily obsessed with somebody!"

Jiro went around the table but left his hand to trail across any exposed skin that Ami's dress didn't cover. He then faced her again, "_That_ person has given me this opportunity and I will take it. I will make you mine, my lovely Ami," Jiro leaned into her as his hand remained on her face, "You are so beautiful and I want you all to myself."

"YOU PERVERTED BASTARD GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Ami managed to head butt him causing him to stagger back holding his forehead. He growled and walked back to her, harshly grabbing her throat. Ami gasped for air and tears welled up in her eyes. A look of horror came upon her as she watched Jiro take out a knife and place it under her neck. He lowered his lips to her ear for her to feel his breath when he whispered, "Try that again and you'll end up regretting it, Ami."

He then lifted his hands and knife away to admire the gleam the knife reflected from the single light bulb above.

"I can give you anything Ami. You'll learn to appreciate the things I've done for you."

"Then give me my freedom!"

He ignored her but proceeded to press the flat of the blade to her cheek. Ami knew not to move a muscle for she knew it could be digging into her skin at any moment. Her tears finally began spilling and this gave Jiro a look of satisfaction.

Jiro smirked as his brows furrowed, "My, you look so sad, my darling! I should carve a smile into you. I want you to always look happy when you're with me! It's ok, it will only hurt a little bit. Nobody will hear you scream since we're in an abandoned building." He raised the knife, the edge now facing her.

Ami shut her eyes and only wished this was all a nightmare. She waited for his knife to slice through her skin but only heard a loud slam with shouting. The pressure of Jiro's hands left her and she heard him panting. She opened her eyes to see that it was the FBI that barged in and was pointing their guns at Jiro.

"Drop your weapon!"

She was saved. Relief overwhelmed her.

Jiro was trembling and sweat rolled down his forehead as he faced the agents. But he finally cracked and held his stomach for laughter.

"Heh…heheheh! I got found out! I'm caught! Ah, this was such a fun game _that_ person had planned out for me!"

"JIRO!"

Jiro glanced back at the bound girl and smirked, "Oh how long have I waited for you to call my name like that! But it's over for me Ami. There is nothing left for me after this. It was fun while it lasted!"

The FBI agents ran towards him while shouting at him to stop but Ami's eyes only widened to see him plunge the knife through his throat. Blood sprayed everywhere and his body fell back, letting Ami's eyes take in the bloody mess and the smiling face.

* * *

_Blood is the crimson I will ever see._

Blue eyes snapped open with a gasp. Ami found herself in a white room, specifically the hospital room. She turned to see Naomi in a wheelchair.

"Naomi?...What happened…I was tied up…Jiro…and then…"

Everything was just too much for her. She had witnessed so many deaths in such a short amount of time. Her parents, the students, Chizu's parents, Jiro's death, it was finally settling into her. She uttered a noise of sob and put her hand to her mouth, the tears clouded her vision.

Naomi frowned and placed a hand on Ami's hand. The distraught girl looked over and all Naomi could do was give her a small smile and say, "It's okay now…he's gone. Everything will be fine now."

"N-no…"

A knock interrupted them and they looked over to see Watari. He held his fedora at his chest and his own smile told Naomi that he was taking Ami back. Naomi nodded and left Ami's bedside to roll herself out. She glanced one more time at the pink haired girl and felt relief but at the same time, guilt for her failure of protecting Ami.

* * *

She sat in the Rolls Royce with not a word to Watari. She knew it wasn't fair for her to be giving Watari the silent treatment but she was angry. Angry that L really did not come to get her. She was frightened when she had found herself tied to that table and some part of her had wished that the pale black haired man would come for her. Her more logical reasoning told her that he was in fact only the strategist that commands his force. He couldn't just come out and find her when he was already doing the most important task and she already knew that.

_"You're safe now aren't you?" _Is what he would probably say.

She sighed. She just wanted to see him…

But she wondered why they even bothered to come back for her.

Watari walked in front of the quiet girl and took a glance at her. Her expression told him that she was in deep contemplation and with all the years of experience in his own past with relationships, he already knew what was happening between these two children. Before he turned the knob to their hotel door he smiled. He just had to let everything take its own course.

"I'll leave you here now, I have to go back to gather information with the agents." Watari nodded with his hat and left Ami with the close of the door.

She turned to face the back of the man that didn't seem to notice she was back, causing her to glare daggers into his back. He still remained crouched in front of the computers and she saw a glimpse of him stacking sugar cubes. She heard him sigh when they fell over and he finally turned to meet her eyes. His face was still vacant when he only said,

"Oh, you're back."

**_Somewhere in the distance, two children were pulling on a stick but it snapped._**

"THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GOING TO SAY? I WAS KIDNAPPED, ALMOST RAPED, AND WITNESSED SOMETHING TERRIFYING, AND ALL YOU'RE GOING TO SAY IS 'OH, YOU'RE BACK'?!"

He was only still expressionless when he said, "But you're safe now…aren't you?" Just as she had predicted. His eyes widened to see tears spilling down her face and he stood up.

"Ami?"

"You're pretty stupid despite being a detective…"

She headed for her room and his last reply was just a slam to the door. He stared at her door, confused on what just had happened; his hand to his side still holding to the lollipop that had no taste left. He somewhat felt like there was a pressure on his chest when the imprinted image of her crying replayed in his mind.

* * *

She adjusted her slim black dress then pinned up her hair. Ami carefully painted the red of a lipstick on and looked back to see herself in the mirror. It had been awhile since she had dressed up to go out but she had enough. Everything had become so overwhelming. She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get away from it all and there was only one way she could think of even if it was just temporary. She put her cell phone, wallet, and anything else she'd need (pepper spray perhaps?) into her purse.

She walked out of her room and caused L to take a glance her way. His eyes narrowed when he noticed her attire.

"Where are you going dressed like that?"

Ami stopped right in front of the door, her hand ready on the door knob, "Out."

"You do realize that you've just come back after being kidnapped, right?"

"I'm an adult now; I can take care of myself."

"You are being so profoundly absurd right now Ami! Not only that, you are confusing me with your words and actions!"

"Oh am I?"

Another slam to the door was what he last saw.

_She really needs to fix that slamming door problem._

A moment later Watari came back from his trip and noticed the open door to Ami's room and her missing presence.

"Hm? Where's Ami?"

"Out."

* * *

"Where has Ami been? It's almost midnight." Watari looked over at L who was busy stabbing a strawberry with a fork. L glanced back at his worried assistant and then to the ticking clock on the wall.

"Well apparently she's an 'adult' now. She doesn't need us babysitting her." He was pretty irritated on the way she had treated him. He didn't deserve to be feeling any guilt especially when he successfully had her saved! He couldn't figure out the cause of her sudden outburst but he still had that nagging feeling with the thought of her still out there. Watari only smiled when he caught a glimpse of L contemplating so intensely just had Ami did earlier, his thumb to his lips as always.

"You know L, sometimes what a woman really want is just somebody to come get her if she's acting stubbornly difficult…especially her ideal man."

L stayed silent for a bit then clicked open a program on his computer, "Well that's unfortunate because," a red dot radiated signals on the map from the program, "I'm not her ideal man."


	11. Yet another Rescue

**Thanks for continuing the read up until now!**

**Another thanks to ****_urmomreadsfanfiction_**** for this chapter idea. It's not exactly the same but it has similar concept. :)**

* * *

L sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets as his bored eyes scanned his surrounding while walking down the street. For some reason, Watari had made up an excuse for not driving him to pick Ami up. He already knew the excuse was false as it wasn't exactly the most reasonable explanation Watari had ever come up with during their years together.

_"I can't be driving you around forever can I?"_ L scratched his head. Watari never seemed bothered or complained about helping him until now. In fact, he even said it was his duty to make sure L didn't run into any trouble during this life of crime fighting.

Not only that, how was he supposed to drag Ami home from a place he was not comfortable with after seeing the location on the tracker? He stopped when he finally arrived at the place. The sign lit a bright red hue above labeling the place as "The Golden Dragon" with a yellow serpent dragon slithering below the words and curving up with its mouth agape above the "o" in dragon. Japan sure had its wonders.

He opened the dark wood door and peered into the dim lighted bar. His hand shoved back into his pockets and his eyes scanned the place. Surprisingly, it wasn't a dance club or anything. People were dressed semi-formally and just came and go for a drink. Behind the actual bar's counter housed countless types of alcohol ranging from sake to American beer.

A man bumped into L's shoulder as he was heading out, the red tint across his face clearly revealed that he was drunk, "Oh sorry lad, didn't see you there. Hehe, if you're coming in for a drink, you better fix up your attire, word of advice yea?" The man nodded his hat and went out. Obviously L was not here to drink but instead his attention switched to the laughing pink haired girl in the corner of the bar.

His eyes narrowed when he saw the men on each of her side drinking with her.

* * *

"Hello there miss, here for a night drink?" A rather young looking bartender smiled at her. His dark brown hair was tied back to a short pony tail and a lighter pair of brown eyes stared at her. He wore a white dress shirt with a black vest and a black bow tie to top it off. A black bartender apron was tied neatly around his waist.

"Aren't you a little young to be serving drinks?" Ami plopped her head on her hand as her elbow rested on the counter.

"Haha, I do look like I'm too young don't I? I actually just came back from America from learning skills. Don't let my looks fool you. Right now I'm still considered an apprentice under Dai-sama, the person who owns this place."

"I see…" Ami picked up the small alcohol menu and traced her finger down the list, "I'll try just about everything."

Of course just about a few hours later, Ami's face was rosy red and she lifted her mug of beer to toast with the other two men around her. When did they come around to sit with her? She doesn't remember. She only remembered them saying how she was such a fine girl and them wanting to buy her drink. As if the many mugs near them and the small shot glasses weren't enough. The young bartender had nervously laughed at her tolerance of alcohol and told her he'll be switching shifts with another bartender now; more likely because he was tired of bringing new mugs over to them.

"And so! This man doesn't now squat about a girl's feelings! He just shuffles his feet around all day long and looks like he came back from the dead!" Ami slammed her mug down and wiped the foam off her upper lip. German beer was certainly her favorite. The two men roared into laughter and drank some of their own, "What a loser, here you are, a fine Japanese woman who can down pretty much any type of drink and he doesn't see anything in you at all?!"

Ami fanned herself with her hand and giggled, "Oh you two flatter me!"

The two men grinned and raised their hand to the now new older bartender in the corner, "Oy, fill us up please!"

They were certainly attracted to this young female the moment she stepped into the bar by herself. The way her black dressed hugged her curves and her pinned hair bared her neck was intriguing. Her blue eyes had made contact with them for a second when she had settled herself down at the bar and now here they were, taking the chance to sit with this girl and drinking. These men were probably hoping for something more later but Ami was too oblivious and too focused on drowning out her own depression.

"So…you should just leave that man and come with us then." One of them said.

"What? You talk like I'm in some relationship with him." Ami sighed and took a big sip from her mug.

"Aren't you? He obviously doesn't see you the way we see you," He smirked and an arm draped over her shoulder, "Isn't that why you came here? To seek new companions?"

Despite Ami being groggy, she finally sensed their intentions, "There are two of you. Silly men," she shrugged off his arm and turned forward, now focused on her drink.

"We learned to share." The other man now slithered his arm around his waist. Now both of them leaned on her. She almost chocked on the alcohol and patted down her chest, her eyes bulging. She pushed them away from both her sides.

"I think my night is over." She stated and rolled her eyes, still attempting to down the last drop in her mug. Her vision was getting blurry and she just felt like passing right there and then on the counter.

The men glanced at each other behind Ami's back and nodded. Men could always tolerate more alcohol in their blood system than women could and they took advantage of this.

"No it's not. You're coming home with us."

One of them grabbed her wrist and spun her around on her stool causing her to hop off and stand, staggering a little bit. She gasped, "What are you doing?!"

"Hey!" The bartender quickly ran towards their corner but the other man pulled out a gun.

_Ugh, why is there disaster wherever I go?_

Ami groaned and held her head with her free hand. The man slowly rotated his position causing the whole place to raise their hands, "Anybody make a move and this girl dies."

"Pft, just kill me already. My life is already messed up." Ami's plan to run away from her problems with a night out like this had only made things worse. Of course, thinking logically was out the window when she's intoxicated.

"I don't think that is the greatest idea coming from you Ami. What happened to the bright girl I met back at the bakery months ago?"

Her eyes widened when she heard that voice. She tried to keep her feet from wobbling and her vision focused to the door.

_What is he doing here?!_

"Who are you?! Stay still or else I'll shoot!" The man pointed the gun at L, who calmly just walked towards them. This caused the man to tremble with sweat rolling down his face. The other man still held onto Ami and growled, "What are you doing? Shoot him!"

The man fired and Ami yelped. She opened her eyes to see L was now standing in front of them, scratching his head.

"Did you really think you can shoot correctly after having several drinks?"

"A-aah-" Before the man could pull the trigger again, L swooped down and his leg shot up to kick the man in the jaw. While the man was falling down, L did a roundhouse kick and the man flew back to the nearby wall. L narrowed his eyes to the man holding onto Ami who let go of her to rush towards him. L ducked and his fist connected with the man's stomach and he then flipped him over.

L took a breath and glanced over to the bartender, "Call the cops to take them away," he then turned back to Ami, calmer now with his arms to his side. His expression was unreadable but maybe that was because Ami was already on her way to passing out.

* * *

Ami groaned when her eyes opened and she found her legs dangling. Her arms lazily placed on top of broad shoulders with arms supporting her weight up. She blinked and realized L was carrying her on his back.

"Finally awake are we?" He monotonously asked. His face still focused on the road ahead.

"Why…are you carrying me?"

"Absurd as it is, Watari didn't want to drive."

"I can walk fine."

"Oh really?"

L abruptly dropped her and she fell on her butt. She struggled to get up as her head was still very dizzy from all the consumed alcohol.

"Hey! You could've have warned me you were putting me down…less harshly too!"

"You implied you were fully capable of moving on your own, didn't you?"

She finally stood up, still wavering a bit and took a better look at him. His face didn't show her that bored or vacant expression she sometimes hated so much. Instead, she could tell he was clenching his jaw tight; his dark brooding eyes stared down at her. He would usually stuff his hands in his pockets by now but they still hung next to his sides. The way he slightly slouched only made him look more solemn.

"How did you find me?"

"Look into your purse."

She obeyed him and opened the purse worn across her shoulder. She only saw what she took with her; a raised eyebrow when she finally figured the answer and lifted the cell phone out.

"You never wondered how you were so quickly saved yesterday, did you?" L asked without really looking for an answer.

"You put a tracker in this?!"

"And good thing I did because look at you now!"

She finally saw another side to him. Ami had never ever seen L show any other emotion other than boredom or fascination in the sweets he ate. He was actually angry. But why was he angry at her? For not listening to him? It shouldn't matter too much to him since she shouldn't be anybody of a big significance to his life. She rubbed the tears from her eyes and wished she had taken the day off at the bakery that day when they met. None of this would be happening if she had done so.

"Why are you doing all of this for me?"

"Why? Are you seriously asking me that? My job is to secure people's safety. I thought that was your goal in life as well Ami, yet here you are running around, drinking with strangers, and risking both of our lives! I worry about you more than the whole population I've helped in my lifetime!"

"L, I just lost my family. You walk into my life and expect me to be fully stable when I'm watching people die one by one? I never even asked you to worry about me."

L rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets but only to prevent himself from balling them into fists. His wiped his face from any emotion and replied, "I've been solving murder cases since I was fourteen Ami. I see bloody images almost every day. Did that stop me from trying to protect people? You should know what you're going to be put through once you choose to become a detective. Also, you don't need to ask somebody to worry; it's just something that happens." He sighed and ran his long fingers through his messy black hair.

Ami said nothing and thought about his words. He was right. L didn't even know his parents and was thrown into chaos at an even younger age. He only had Watari to guide him and here he was, trying his best to do something for Ami. He even revealed his face and identity to her and had given her an opportunity to work with him, yet she has done nothing but show the lack of gratefulness towards him. He was worried about her! If it was L actually saying he was worried, then all of this was truly serious coming from him.

L stared at the girl in front of him. He was glad it was very late at night or people would be staring at them on the street thinking he was an assaulter or something. Her head was held down and she just looked like a mess. He caught a glimpse of a tear sliding down the bridge of her nose onto the pavement. Again, he felt like a brick just landed on his chest after seeing how distraught she was. An arm lifted out from his pocket and a slender finger barely reached to grab a lock of her hair. She lifted her head and her blue eyes questioned him. He let it slip through his fingers then placed the hand back into his pocket, his head glancing away.

"Let's go. It's getting late. I don't like being out here for too long."

Ami's face was still slightly tinted red from being drunk. The thoughts swirling around in her head had faded when she felt her body shutting down. The side effects of being drunk were definitely coming back. Somehow she found her body moving on her own as she tried her best to steady herself while stepping towards him.

"Ami?"

Her eyes were shadowed by her bangs as she grabbed a fist full of the collar of his shirt and roughly pulled him down. L's eyes bulged and he uttered a noise of surprise when she leaned up to softly place her lips on his. All the muscles in his body tensed and it seemed like more bricks had fallen on his chest.

She pulled away and rested her head against his chest.

"A-Ami..?"

The weight of her body leaning on him became heavier causing him to look down at her resting form. She had passed out again before giving him an answer to what just had happened. He sighed with his eyes half lowering. He placed his arms under her and lifted her up with her head resting against the angle of his neck.

_How troublesome._

But with another glance down at Ami's sleeping figure, a small curve formed his pale lips. He was sort of understood why Watari didn't want to give him that ride.

* * *

Finally! Some real major development between the two...well it doesn't really count though since Ami is drunk. ;_; Lol.


	12. The Wondering Thoughts

**Thanks for reading up 'till now!**

* * *

The next day Ami opened her eyes to the ceiling. She shifted her head to the window to see a different color of curtains and different drawers and what not from the last time she's been in. Her repacked bags were in the corner again.

_Well, is this finally it? Has L finally decided to dump me off somewhere?_

She sat up and winced from the headache. The hangover reminded her of the pieces of events that happened last night.

"Let's see, I gave up on sanity, went out for a drink…hmm…almost got kidnapped and L came to rescue me again…and then…."

She scratched her head and felt like something was missing from her memory. The side effects of drinking too much was indeed punishable enough. Her eyes caught the cup of water, medicine bottle, and a note on the lamp table next to her. She reached for it and a small smile formed her lips.

_Ami,_

_Here is some medicine to help the hangover._

_-L_

The short simple sentence reassured her that he didn't go insane with her behavior and dropped her off somewhere. She only concluded that they only had to relocate to another hotel once again as it is the strict policy of L's.

* * *

The whole room was dark thanks to him wanting all the curtains closed. L dragged his hand down his face as his dark dilated pupils stared intensely at the computer. He already knew that the case wasn't even close to being over since the day Naomi had called him to say Ami was captured. The killer would never go into broad daylight and do something risky like that and get captured right away. Things just went too easy for him to come to a conclusion.

At this moment, he went over his documents to see if he had missed anything yet nothing stood out to him. He wondered if Ami had any information for him and looked at the clock.

_12:01 pm…_

The girl always overslept on such days even without hangovers…

L already learned to not even try to wake her up again. The last time was a disaster and as much as he wanted her to be awake to solve the case, he wanted to hold onto his dignity a bit longer until the next time he goofs up.

He sighed and stood up to walk to the coffee maker Watari left on the main table (which also had the mountains of sweets) and lifted the pot high up to watch a line of coffee pour into the cup, surprisingly the hot liquid didn't splash everywhere. His forefinger and thumb began dropping the sugar cubes in but his mind trailed off somewhere else.

He stopped and a finger rubbed against his lips.

Since when was he so content with body contact? The girl had been interacting with him in so many different ways that he had forgotten how uncomfortable he was with things like _lack of personal space_ or _hugging_ and now a _kiss_!

He stared at the cup overflowing with melted sugar cubes. Has he ever behaved this way? No, probably not. He was the man that could understand almost every situation in the world BUT a woman's heart. He couldn't even understand himself! L proceeded to stir the sickly sweet coffee but had only one thought in mind:

Would he want the kiss to happen again?

The alcohol had left her tasting bitter, something that he abhorred. But if she were to do it again, what would it really be like?

He turned his head when he heard a door opening and closing accompanied with a yawn.

"Mmm, morning."

"Twelve 'o five is hardly morning anymore."

"Close enough! Now what's for breakfast?" Ami walked over to stand next to L and her mouth formed an 'o' when nothing but cakes and candy reflected her eyes. She proceeded to take a plate of waffles and attempted to scrape off the pound of whipped cream and picked it up to let the syrup drip off.

"Well…soggy waffles would have to do. L, I fear I'm going to get cavities by the time we're done here."

_'We're done here?'_

L didn't really think that far ahead did he? When the case is finally closed, what would Ami do? Surely he would have to tell her to finish school, graduate, and find a better place to live. He bit his thumbnail as he watched her contemplate on whether or not she should eat the waffle.

_Perhaps she really didn't remember what happened?_

Strangely enough, he wanted her to be aware of what she had done. Surely it wasn't because he wanted her to remember that moment together or anything…he just wanted her to make sure she didn't do it again. Yes, _of course_, just like the time he had learned his lesson to not violate her privacy, she had to learn her lesson to not get drunk and go around kissing men.

Or so that's what L really wants to think of it as.

L walked over to the couch and stepped foot first before settling down on his bent position. Ami followed after him but sat on the opposite side in the correct position. She was stabbing the waffle with a fork but without looking up said, "L?"

"Yes?"

"About last night…"

"Hmm…" he played with a piece of hair that hung over is eyes, "What about it?"

"I just…want to apologize."

"For what?"

He was certainly enjoying Ami's struggle to bring the subject up. She sighed and set the plate down on the table in front of them and crossed her arms, her blue eyes narrowing at him. He only stared back at her with his pinky finger twisting in his ear.

"Never mind."

"Do tell Ami, I would absolutely love you to give me the apology I deserve."

"Alright, fine, I'm sorry for not listening to you and storming off and getting drunk causing you to come get me once again."

L hopped off the couch and took two strides and a leg rested on the cushion next to her, his hands shoved into his pockets as his body leaned towards her. His owl eyes seemingly staring into her soul.

"Uh, you're creeping me out, L…"

"Is there anything else you would like to say?"

"What?"

"Nothing else you remember?"

"What are you talking about?"

He leaned in closer causing her to attempt to lean back, anymore of it and she would be merging in with the couch itself.

"I just want you to know that what happened last night will not be spoken of."

He watched her eyes widen and he took a step back and turned away to head towards the table of sweets.

"Wait wait wait, what exactly did happen last night?" she followed after him.

He ignored her and began making a skewer of assorted goods. This caused Ami to narrow her eyes and repeat her question but he once again ignored her; his eyes focused on the masterpiece he created. When he was about to take a bite though, a hand slapped it away and he froze.

"Do you realize what you have done?!"

"You deserve it for not answering my question." Ami put her hands on her waist in triumph.

He frowned and took a glance at the dirty skewer on the floor with various fruits and candy bits separated from it. He bent down and began picking up the pieces.

"You really won't tell me what happened huh?"

"Especially after what you just made me do."

"Not my fault you only hold things with a finger and thumb."

"Alright, to answer your question, nothing happened."

"I didn't think the world's greatest detective would lie."

"It's for the greater good." he threw the dropped sweets into a trashcan and sighed. L went back to sitting on the couch and chose to stare blankly into space but Ami stood in front of him with an irritated look.

"At least tell me if it was embarrassing or not."

"You should have thought of the consequences when you decided to get intoxicated, yes?"

"Everybody makes mistakes, L."

"Not me."

She raised her eyebrow as he looked up at her with a small smile. He definitely wasn't planning on telling her about their shared kiss anytime soon but nobody ever said L wasn't a playful man.

"You're ridiculous L! This whole day will be spent with me trying to make you tell me what happened last night now."

"Well, I wish you luck Ami."

He stood up once again and placed a hand on her head, "Try to remember on your own first, Miss Drunky."

With that Ami watched him leave her side to crouch in front of his computers. L was actually acting stranger than usual and it made her ponder if last night's event was really that worth keeping a secret. She rolled her eyes and went back to her room, with one last glance at the very unique man before closing the door.

L was slowly trying to understand why he felt pressure on his chest when he sees Ami in distraught or why her smile made him feel a bit better from the life given to him. It was a start, but at the same time, fear overwhelmed him. He admitted it was fun to tease her like this but it was something he never thought he be doing with a girl like her.

* * *

"Gr, think Ami, think! What could happen when you are drunk?" Ami knocked her head as she sat cross legged in the center of her bed.

She sighed and plopped back down on her bed and rolled over to take a look at the note L left her earlier that morning. The glass of water was empty and the hammering in her head had become faint thanks to the medicine he gave her. His handwriting was surprisingly very neat in the form of cursive for it was like looking at a piece of calligraphy on paper.

It amazed her how he was able to write such a pretty simple sentence when all she had ever seen him do is type frantically on that keyboard and pick things up with only a forefinger and thumb. England must have had its ways with him.

"Oh! No no no, did I perhaps have danced all over the bar counter? No way, I still remember when those freaks tried to take advantage of me and L came to save the day once again…" she groaned and gave up on trying to figure out what kind of person she was during her drunken moments. There was a knock on the door that saved her from her frustration.

"Ami?"

"Oh, finally come to tell me about the events of last night, L?"

"Um…not exactly. I actually want to discuss the topic of The Riddler. He's still out there isn't he?"

There was a moment of silence between the two of them with the door preventing any sort of awkward staring.

"Yes…he's still out there," Ami got off her bed and went to open the door to meet his slouchy form, he definitely wasn't too excited to hear the confirmation, "I suppose you want to know what I know."

L nodded and shuffled towards his computers, motioning Ami to follow. She had to sit cross legged next to his crouching form once again since he never required tables or chairs for his equipment or seating. He clicked opened a new image and she took a breath to calm her anxiety.

**Puppets are useful but not for riddles.**

Ami always wondered if these things were actually riddles. They were just stupid sentences that sometimes made no sense and would only cause the reader confusion due to the stupidity. But this was no time for such thoughts as her attention focused on what L had to say.

"I am aware that Jiro was most likely the puppet mentioned in this phrase and from what I deduce, he was not the one that wrote the riddle of capturing you."

"Easy enough to figure." She agreed.

"So the killer most likely has many more working for him. This makes things much more complicated and we are back to square one."

"Yes and to add on more to the mystery, before I was kidnapped, Chizu had confined in me that…her parents were murdered."

She watched as L's eyes widened as he unwrapped a candy to suck in contemplation.

"Which means our theory of the killer killing my parents first to cross off any chance of them helping us or getting to me is thrown out. Why would they kill Chizu's parents too? They are obviously just playing a cruel game by now."

"Ami, this game has been going on since the start. The dead bodies the killer leaves behind aren't meant to be the clues to solving this case; they just leave the bodies to attach these notes behind. Look, this note was actually attached to a random person this time."

"So does this make this killer a random crazy person out there? All the killings of people we knew were coincidences?"

"Not entirely correct. I am still sure that this person knows you to some degree considering that they knew Jiro wanted you. Whoever this is, they aren't too crazy to not know how to use their brain."

"Yes, or perhaps they just wanted to help Jiro get what he wanted without actually knowing me? A good way for another free murder the way I see it."

"Maybe you are right, but there _is_ an eighty five percent chance they know you."

"That fifteen percent still stands with my theory then."

L shifted his weight on his feet and moved to change his sitting position. He sat down but propped one arm on a raised leg and the other arm supported him as he slightly leaned back. It was a rare chance for Ami to see him sit in a different position and she kept her surprise hidden.

"So what do we do know?"

"The only thing we can do is wait and go over what the killer wants. But I doubt that would get us anywhere far…"

Ami nodded and let a silence to form between them once again. Although the situation is even more crucial than before, her thoughts still strayed to the fact that she wanted to know what happened last night.

_You should just forget about it!_

_No! Why let that man keep things to himself and make you suffer in your own thoughts forever?_

She would probably go insane if she kept talking to herself in her head like that. She took a glance at L and a small innocent smile formed. He turned with his vacant face, "What?"

"Sooo…."

"Nope, not going to tell you."

"L!"

He gave her the bored look but his eyes wandered to her lips. When he was young, he had always heard kids call him the "boy who was probably insane" behind closed doors due to the fact that he never showed his face to any of the kids in the orphanage. Perhaps they were partially correct. An odd part in his brain was currently taking over when he realized how much he really _did _want to feel the touch of her lips again. The way her lips were partially opened and the way her stern blue eyes stared right at him only made him more curious. Curious of whether or not this feeling would sky rocket or finally diminish after satisfying his wonders of human contact.

L was definitely going to label it as going insane.

Ami would probably agree when he had decided to do a preposterous action that would for sure leave a remaining memory this time.

"Earth to L? Hellooo? Are you okay? You're staring into space longer than usual."

Next thing she knew, his long arm reached out to place his hand behind her neck and, "-Mmh!"

_Hm, I wonder if I'll regret this later…_

* * *

From here, I will be adding new characters, not a whole lot though. Also, I will taking a short break from the main plot to add on some...uh...drama? Haha. I know you all are dying to know who the murderer is but I'll be evil and put it to the side for a bit. :) I feel like if I only focus on that, I won't be able to establish anything between these two.


	13. A Lingering Taste

I only read this chapter over a few times and decided I'll post it despite knowing I've probably missed a few typos/mistakes here and there. x:

**Jouheki-chan**: I usually update _once or twice_ a month! I know, I'm mean but I like to read people's feedback and brainstorm my chapters out. At times I delete a whole written out chapter because I'm not satisfied with it and don't get me started on revising! I read over my work at least 5-7 times before posting. Haha. And as for the coffee, I would agree with you! I don't like coffee much but when I do crave for it, it has to be super sweet! I'm more of a tea person. :)

**Shadowthorn2013**: Well if some people ignore you forever, I refuse to be part of that group. :3 And you're right, it's getting harder and harder to write new chapters nowadays! I know the beginning and end to this story but I'm having a hard time figuring out what to put in between. Ugh! Haha.

**hardeehar**: I think I've left many cliffhangers in the past and with many more to come...hehehe.

**ayeuoo and BunnyMooMooMonster**: People are so anxious for the mystery to be solved! But nope, I won't spoil it thus not giving out any hints! *evil laugh* For now, enjoy some L and Ami interactions. :D

**windheartyuki:** I think Ami will explode one day due to L's ridiculousness haha. But she's also learning how to be patient. :)

**Thank you everybody else for reading and reviewing! :)**

* * *

They say that when a person's face is flushed red, it's either: the person is embarrassed, has a fever, or perhaps has a mind of a pervert. It's also known that when you are kissed (most likely for the first time) there is a high chance your heart beats faster to the point where you hear the drumming in your ears. Not only that, it can also cause your muscles to become stiff‒ resulting to be temporary paralyzed.

All this can happen from just one kiss.

And this is what exactly describes what Ami was experiencing when her wide blue eyes stared blankly at L when he had finally opened his eyes. He retracted his arm away from her neck and leaned back with a rather contemplative expression. He blinked and a hand waved in front of her in attempt to break her out of her trance.

"Earth to Ami?"

"W-wh-"

Was it also mentioned that a surprise kiss can cause stuttering in one's speech?

"What was that for?!" She gripped onto the hem of her shirt and looked down in attempt to hide her blushing face. So many things were running through her head but they all ended up in a jumble when she tried to sort them out.

_L just kissed me out of nowhere! What! Why? Has he lost it?!_

She glanced back up to see him turned away. It was unfortunate to say that Ami couldn't catch the small smile on his lips…

He was only trying to find a way to make the fluttering feeling in his stomach go away. It was a distraction‒ a hindrance to him whenever he needed to face Ami seriously. A small voice had developed in the back of his mind telling him that she is probably more than just a crime fighting partner. As stubborn a man L was, he was obviously in denial. So what happened when he placed his lips on hers? Surely the sweet lingering taste of the syrup from the waffles she took a bite out of earlier would have enthralled him. Surely how she froze and how cute she looked with her pink cheeks would have somehow made him listen to that annoying voice in his head. All quite the opposite; when he turned away from her and a thumb rubbed his lips, he smiled because that eccentric feeling finally ceased.

He was relieved.

He didn't even want to bother figuring out why it disappeared, he just wanted to go back to his normal (in his definition of 'normal') self and return to thinking properly and nothing else. He couldn't even admit that he just used Ami for his own selfish reasons.

He turned back to her; his face no longer held a wondering expression. Now, how was he going to explain to her why he kissed her? There would be major consequences if he didn't do it quickly since judging on her balled fist, the scowl, and the red cheeks due to probably rage, she was definitely angry.

"Erm, sorry about that…sweet things tend to lure me towards it."

"What?!"

Well, that came out the _wrong_ way.

"What I meant was, my mind blanked out for a moment and I imagined you to be cotton candy."

"…"

She gave a long sigh and slowly got up. L placed a forefinger on his lips in wonder on what she was going to do next. Surprisingly, she strained a smile, "You think I look like cotton candy?"

"Well yeah…your hair is pink."

"I wonder how the world would take it if they found out the greatest detective is dead…"

"I beg your pardon?"

"L! You just _kissed_ me! Does that register anything in that brain of yours? Oh right, your mind is _always_ blank when it doesn't involve cases."

He stood up too and shoved his hands into his pockets; his dilated pupils stared back at her narrowed eyes, "It's not like it was a big deal or anything right? Think of it as an accident. Not like you've never kissed anybody before, right?"

There was an awkward silence in the room as L watched Ami's cheek turn a bright red that complimented her pink hair. This made him wonder if he could ever turn a different shade of color. Probably not since years of living in solitude turned him a ghostly pale…

"Despite you being a genius, you can come up with some pretty unreasonable excuses huh? I doubt you'll ever understand a woman's heart since that's knowledge you seem to lack in."

Before he could open his mouth, she turned her heels and headed to her room. This time, there wasn't a loud slam to the door but there was a loud groan on the other side though. There wasn't a voice in his head screaming at him or anything. Yet he let his shoulders slump when her words echoed through his head. He just didn't understand it. If he had found the answer to diminishing that annoying nagging in his head, then why did he still feel a heavy chest?

And since when was L comfortable enough to initiate such an action anyway?

* * *

Ami stayed in her room for the rest of the day until night time. The only thing she did was watch random videos on her laptop in attempt to distract herself from thinking about what had happened. When it was time to shower, that's when the events replayed in her head. When she discovered herself remembering the feeling of his hand on her neck to pull her in, it made her scrub her hair in frustration. It was even more dangerous for her when she remembered his pressed lips on hers.

It was a soft kiss. It was sweet. Literally.

When he had pulled back she tasted the lingering sweetness. Ami stood idly in the shower and her fingers brushed against her lips again, causing her to turn red from the rising heat. Her hands frantically turned the shower knob to a degree cooler and she swore she almost slipped inside the tub if she didn't pull herself back in reality.

L was an attractive guy (even with those dark lines under his eyes), she could admit that. But he was the world's greatest detective and any romantic feelings were crossed off on her mental list. When it came to liking somebody, it was always troublesome after all. This wasn't a time to develop that type of relationship because for one: she didn't want to be the girl to jump on the chance of "snatching the world's greatest detective" when he saved her and asked her to live with him. Even if she sometimes caught herself watching him type on his computer at a far range or think about their first encounter, she was dedicated to remembering that everything was solely a bond of friendship.

Besides, it's not like L would see her differently if she did happen to say she liked him. Hah, that would be one hell of a joke. She'll probably continue to keep this new feeling to herself.

She sighed and rubbed the fog off the bathroom mirror to take a good look at herself. Maturity and stress was evident on her face. Her thulian pink hair has grown longer, perhaps she's gotten a bit taller too, and her blue eyes…they told a story of pain and agony.

But there was also a hint of love and comfort.

She smiled and got dressed.

* * *

"You're actually pretty fearless for wanting to go back to school."

It was the next day and the start of a new week. Ami only had three more months until she could take her final exam and graduate so solving a case while trying to study was certainly not going to stop her from doing so. L sat in his corner browsing through who knows what on his computers with his back facing her. Both of them were most likely surprised that a conversation could begin without any addition of awkwardness. But then again, he was always lecturing her on not going anywhere.

She sat on the floor to tie her shoes before saying, "I'm going to graduate, L, and nothing you say can prevent me from passing my exams."

He got up, turned, and walked to her. There was a slight frown on his face before he said, "I can't. But a certain serial killer could."

"Honestly, they would've killed me sooner if they wanted me dead by now. See? I'm telling you that the person probably doesn't personally know who I am."

"They save the best for last."

"The best is _you_ L, but thanks for the compliment."

She got up and straightened herself before heading for the door.

"Wait."

Ami turned and her eyes questioned him. L scratched his head while looking at the floor. His eyes glanced up at her before proceeding to pick up his beat up sneakers near the door. He grunted before struggling to put them on as if it was strange to wear shoes and opened the door before Ami could.

"I'm coming with you today."

"You're not even a student, L."

"Does it matter? Professors don't take roll in large lecture halls."

"Hm, well I guess exposing yourself in some sunlight would do you some good. C'mon, we'll be late."

She grabbed his arm (which surprised him since he didn't think she'd want any contact due to yesterday's event) and pulled him with her. A small smile made its way to her lips. This time, she let the feelings of attraction wander her thoughts. She was at peace whenever he displayed his protectiveness towards her.

* * *

Ami told L things about herself in attempt for him to get to know her better. She figured that if he knew a few things about her, he'd understand her better. Not that it mattered really but she felt like she needed to compensate for the things she learned about him through Watari. It was also a good moment to start a conversation going on their way through the campus.

"So I was thinking of cutting my hair."

"I never understood the concept of girls cutting their hair. It always looks the same after." L replied thoughtfully.

"Hmph, what if I cut my hair short then?"

He stopped and turned to her. She raised an eyebrow but flinched when his hand reached forward to touch a lock of her hair, "I think you'd look good with any style."

She realized she felt infuriated whenever he's like this. Just what exactly is he thinking? First he acts like the world is a boring black and white movie then the next second, he makes her feel somewhat special. Or at least he says something that makes her feel special; however, there is a big chance he isn't watching what he says. She already knew he would never understand a woman's heart so why bother telling him over and over? Ami pulled back and nervously laughed, "Maybe I should cut my hair like yours then since I aim to be the next greatest detective."

"That would be ridiculous. Not only that, I don't think you can stand not brushing your hair for a day."

When they resumed walking to the class building, the silence between them was finally interrupted with the calling of Ami's name.

_Oh shoot…I forgot all about her…_

Ami would be lying if she said her cell phone died thus why never picking up the numerous calls from Chizu. Ever since the day she told Chizu where she was living and getting kidnapped right after, she avoided all communication with her best friend.

"Ami! Ami you jerk, you haven't picked up my calls!" Chizu ran up to them while dragging somebody else behind. Ami curiously leaned to the side to catch a glimpse but her friend stood in her way, "Where have you been! And you!" Chizu pointed to L, known as "Ryuuzaki" to her.

"I can't believe you two are living together! There is some sort of relationship going on isn't there? I knew it!"

Ami nervously laughed and raised her hands to calm her friend down. L only stood by looking like he regretted coming along after all.

"We're just friends and um, Ryuuzaki was nice enough to give me a place to stay." Ami had to remind herself that L was called by that name outside. It had been awhile since they first met after all. Chizu gave them both a suspicious look but sighed, indicating she'll let this one slide. She then smiled and stepped to the side to reveal the person behind her.

"So this is my step brother, Kai Tamaki. He recently came back from America and he's a bartender. Oh, and he's going to temporary be an abroad student here. Touou University sure can be lenient sometimes."

The dark brown hair and pair of light brown eyes were all too familiar. A gentle smirk played his lips when Ami's eyes went wide and her finger pointed at him with a gasp, "You! Oh dear god what are the chances of seeing you again!"

"Well, if you ever decide to get wasted again, then the chances are high."

Ami blushed and Chizu glanced between them, "You know each other? And you went drinking Ami?"

"Let's just say some situations can bring two people to each other." Kai smirked and winked at Ami before adding, "We should all go get a drink together, you know, like _tea_ and nothing else." He stared at Ami.

She laughed nervously, "Yeah we should…I guess…"

Chizu agreed as well but before everybody went their way into the building, L pulled Ami back.

"You know him?"

"He was the bartender for that night…"

"I see…well I won't be joining in on your activity later."

"Why?"

Sure L could say that he wanted to find more clues about the case. He did want to end it as soon as possible and the many months that passed by was way more than he expected. However, he was feeling that heavy feeling in his chest again when he noticed how Ami blushed from whatever that boy named Kai said. No, it shouldn't be because of that.

_Perhaps I'm getting ill..._

L forgot that he hasn't even gotten a cold in years though. He shrugged it off. He did however, place a hand on Ami's head and leaned in closer.

"U-um…L?" She whispered.

He was dangerously close.

He couldn't understand the sick satisfaction of being the last guy to make her cheeks heat up. He didn't want to let _Kai_ be the last to leave an impression yet he also didn't want to continue whatever he was doing. It was utterly frustrating.

"Be careful, alright? You have a cell phone now. I think I'm going to return back to the hotel after all."

With that, Ami watched him leave with his hands shoved in his pockets, slouched back, and the shuffling of his sneakers. She sensed something was wrong but couldn't figure out what was making L behave stranger than usual…

* * *

Uh oh, is there a little jealously hinted there, L? Hmm. We'll see if that eccentric feeling you suppressed will be gone for long...

I know Death Note isn't the type of anime to have characters with pink or blue hair as if it's natural (but Near's hair is snowy white?!) so I don't even know if I should mention it's Ami's natural color. We'll leave that question unanswered...

And is it me, or are my chapters getting shorter? D; Anyway, I frequently see that people get "inspired" by listening to certain songs while typing their chapters...well I tried that.

I ended up listening to _Calm Envy_ by _The Gazette_, a visual kei j-rock band. So um...yeah I guess I'm inspired. o_O Just wanted to share that.


End file.
